Child of Darkness
by nimblnymph
Summary: The sequel to Upsetting the Balance. The Knights and Himeno learn exactly what the phrase what goes around comes around means.
1. Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk

CHAPTER ONE: Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk

"Hey, you think she's done studying yet?"

"I dunno. She still has her books open."

"Maybe we should give them to her now and she'll be happy."

Himeno clenched her teeth, grabbing a handful of her hair. Why couldn't they understand? She COULDN'T play with them because she was studying for her final exams!

"Hey, Shin, you go ask her," Mannen whispered.

She growled, slamming her palms down on the table. Damn it, why wasn't Blaise watching them? The Knight of Flowers had been recruited not too long ago from England. THIS time, Himeno had made sure Hayate let her interview the candidates! Hayate wasn't too happy about getting another plant knight. Kei, on the other hand, after at first not liking Blaise's appearance, had decided he was just as great as Himeno. Especially when he discovered Blaise played a wicked game of chess.

"Himeno?" Shin asked softly, tugging on her sleeve.

"What?" she asked, counting to ten. Don't snap at Shin, don't snap at Shin...

Shin held a plate of cookies awkwardly and a glass of milk. He smiled and stood on tiptoe to try and set them on the table...

Only to spill the milk all across her notes.

"AHHHH! My notes! NO!" Himeno knocked her chair over and started grabbing at her papers, trying to shake them off and keep them from the growing puddle of milk.

Shin's eyes got big and watery and he began to wail, running from the room on chubby legs. Mannen and Hajime were right behind him.

"BLAAAAAAAIIIIIIIISSSSSSEEEEEE!"

She could here Hayate, Feryn and Kei outside the house. Kei had just gotten home and Hayate and Feryn were checking the mail. Actually, it was Hayate checking the mail and Feryn standing over his shoulder to see if Yayoi had sent him a letter. They lived not even six blocks apart, but wrote each other the most disgusting love notes!

"What the hell is going on?" Kei asked.

Hayate's voice filtered through, but she couldn't hear what he'd said.

There was the stomping of heavy boots and Blaise came in from the kitchen with a small stack of cookies and milk. His brown eyes took in the mess and he stopped chewing. This week his hair was a brilliant blue and cut very short and neat. It was weird seeing such an unnatural color of hair on that professional haircut. "Um, love, I thought you knew you were supposed to DRINK the milk," he offered as a joke, giving her his most charming smile.

"Don't. Try. That. With. Me," she ground out, fists clenched. Blaise's eyes dropped to her fists and he began to back away. He'd seen her beat up her own boyfriend, he wasn't taking any chances.

"Himeno, darling, um...don't do anything dramatic..."

"You were supposed to be watching those three! Now I have no notes and my final exams are coming up in a week! If I fail my junior year of high school, it's your fault, y'hear me? YOUR FAULT!"

Blaise ducked the shoe thrown at his head and went running. not spilling a drop of his milk. That only pissed her off more!

Himeno ran after him, chasing him around a corner as he made for the front door.

Only to smack right into a tangle of climbing floral vines blocking her way. Blaise was out the door already.

"Hayate, your she-demon's attackin' me, mate!"

"Oh, no..."

"BLAISE! DON'T STOP RUNNING UNTIL YOU GET BACK TO ENGLAND, YOU LOUSY ROTTEN BASTARD!" Himeno struggled, now more intent on trying to get out of the vines holding her in place than of actually catching Blaise and inflicting the pain he so deserved!

Hayate came through the door and stopped when he saw the vines, brilliant blue eyes following the different strands. His jaw clenched tightly, he began pulling them down from the wall and ceiling. "So, what happened?" he asked.

"I was studying. Blaise was SUPPOSED to be keeping the others busy. Shin came to give me a snack and the milk spilled all over table and all over my notes. MY NOTES!" Himeno, still hanging in the flower vines, started to cry. "I don't have TIME to copy them all from Yayoi! Those were my notes from the whole YEAR!"

She was suddenly released from the vines and captured again, this time by strong arms hugging her. Hayate's dark hair brushed over her arms, bringing with it the smell of that new shampoo he'd gotten, which made her mouth water so bad! It smelled like apples and cool breezes...so sexy! "Calm down, it's not that bad," he said, rubbing her back.

"But it IS! I need to study and...and..."

Hayate pushed her back a little so he could look her in the eye. "What you NEED right now is a break. Kei's going to go dry your notes off, and you're going to sit down and relax."

"I can't..."

He gave her the look that meant you're-not-winning-this-one. Sighing, she nodded and followed him into the living room.

Kei was already in the dining room, shaking his head at the mess. "Son of a...LOOK at all this!" He rubbed his hands together a little and started using enough light to dry up the notes into stiff sheets, laying them aside in a stack.

Himeno lay her head on Hayate's lap on the couch, his fingers stroking her hair back soothingly. Her notes...she hoped they weren't too damaged! The English and the Chemistry were okay, but her Triganometry... She groaned at the thought of those being lost completely. She glanced up when a very guilty looking Mannen and Hajime came in, followed by a still sniffling Shin. "Himeno?" Mannen began softly, looking at his shoes. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too," Hajime added.

They looked so upset...she couldn't be mad at them when they looked ready to cry any minute. And it WAS an accident. They knew she was stressed and were trying to cheer her up. Smiling, she reached out and messed up Mannen's hair even further. "It was an accident. I'm not mad."

"Really?" Shin asked, green eyes wide and hopeful.

"Really, I promise. I"m just stressed." "Bitchy," she heard Kei mutter as a substitute.

"What the- Hayate, you are aware we have a new garden, _oui_?" Feryn had just come inside after reading one of those ridiculously long love notes and seen the vines sitting in the hallway. He came in, twirling a brilliant scarlet flower between his fingers, a soft little smile on his face. He was most likley thinking of ways to compare it's beauty to Yayoi's.

"Wha- oh, yes, I saw that," he called back. He still wasn't on very good terms with Feryn.

"I see. Well, I must start getting ready. _Ma belle l'amour_ has asked me to help her study." His laugh told them he didn't think it was 'studying' Yayoi was asking for.

"Oh, ewewewew," Himeno grumbled, covering her eyes with her hand and pressing to get THAT picture out of her head.

"Okay, I've got them all dried off, but some aren't legible in the least," Kei said, coming into the room with a stack. "What I'm going to do is scan them into my computer and use a retrieval program like they use in museums for old documents. It'll pick up your penstrokes, connect the lines and then print out your notes again."

Himeno sat up, gaping at Kei. "You can do that?"

"Please, it's a computer! I can do pretty much anything with it." He shook his head at the fact he had to state the obvious and went to his room.

"Hey, I wanna see that, " Hajime exclaimed, running after Kei.

"Me, too! Me, too!" Shin ran after him.

"Hey- you dumb kids! Don't go botherin' Kei!" Mannen chased after them. Kei got very, VERY annoyed if he was doing work and they interupted.

Which left Himeno and Hayate alone. They hadn't been getting as much time together due to her school work, the three younger knights being home taught by Blaise (who was a teacher, but didn't really work at the schools because "Them crazy gits bore the kids to death by law!") and running around all crazy-like, and Hayate being called back into Leafenia more often. Himeno decided to take advantage of no notes and no interuptions and sat across his lap so that she was facing him, a leg on either side of his. His arms went around her and they kissed. She wrapped her arms around his neck, tilting her head a little better so neither of them were straining at such an odd angle.

"Himeno..." Hayate drew back just a little before laying light little kisses one after another to her lips. "I've missed you."

"Me, too," she whispered. It was really strange, how empty she felt if he wasn't there. Even if they were arguing (which they did A LOT of!) it was good to have him there with her. They hadn't been on a date in months, it had been weeks since they'd been able to make out, and a few days since they'd actually even kissed each other. And it was very obvious by how heated this kiss was, the pressure of his hands on her back, her hands shaking as they pulled the clip from his hair to run her fingers through that thick mass.

One minute, they were sitting up, the next, he'd moved so that they were laying next to each other on the couch, a very cramped position to be in, but it only meant he'd just have to hold her tighter to keep her from falling. Hmm... sneaky guy! Hayate's fingers were toying along the bottom of her shirt, but he didn't go any further. They'd talked about it already and both decided no sex until they were married. Married...The thought of spending forever with him made her smile. He hadn't even proposed or anything, but she secretly hoped he would. Granted, she was still in school...and she was going to college as well...but that didn't mean they couldn't be engaged! She touched his wrist, giving him permission to go further. His hand was on her stomach, tracing little circles. Slowly moving around to her back...

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN HERE TO BEGIN WITH!"

"AHHHHHHHH! HIIIIMMMMMMEEEEEENNNNOOOOO!"

They froze, Himeno trying not to laugh at Hayate's obvious irritation. Footsteps came thundering into the living room and Himeno sat up quickly.

"Help, Kei's gonna kill us!" Hajime and Shin jumped and dove onto the couch. Himeno caught Shin easily, but Hajime...

"UGH!"

"Oh, sorry, Hayate," Hajime said, looking up from where he'd dove head first into Hayate's stomach. "Hey, why're you layin' down anyway?"

"I'm tired," he answered. Yeah, right! Himeno couldn't keep a snort of laughter back which earned her a sharp dig of Hayate's elbow in her back.

"Well, wake up cuz Kei's gonna kill us!"

"Good, you probably deserve it!"

Hajime's jaw dropped and he looked to Mannen. "Didja hear that?"

Mannen's eyes narrowed wickedly. "Yeah," he snickered.

Uh-oh! Himeno quickly got out of the way with Shin.

Hayate looked up when she left, then wide-eyed at Mannen when the Knight of Ice dove on him, too. "NO! STOP-" Himeno grimaced when the younger knight threw himself across her boyfriend's chest and body slammed him.

Hajime wrapped himself around Hayate's legs, holding the Knight of Wind as still as possible as Mannen wrestled with him. Then...Mannen found that little spot on Hayate's side, the one she'd 'accidentally' told him about, where he was incredibly ticklish. Hayate squirmed (she NEVER thought she'd use that word with him!) and tried to get away from Mannen's quick fingers. "Himeno...Mannen, stop..." He was laughing too hard to get anything out.

Shin was smiling where he sat on her lap and Himeno couldn't help laughing, too. She hugged the Knight of Plants quickly and he hugged her back. It had been a year and a half since the incident with their leafe going out of balance. Everything was as it should be. Things were normal, which was a nice change from the usual insanity.

The light outside suddenly faded to a dull grey, like the sun was behind clouds. Hajime and Mannen stopped picking on Hayate, who sat up, looking wary. He had a hand resting on their shoulders, ready to push them out fo the way if necessary.

Himeno set Shin down and moved closer to Hayate in case she needed to pret. Not that any of the other knights couldn't, but she always felt safer with him.

Kei and Feryn came into the room, and Blaise from the kitchen. He must have snuck back in through the back door at some point. All of them wore closed expressions, waiting. The anticipation was almost choking the air in the room!

A greyish fog was creeping under the door to the deck. Shin whimpered and clung to Himeno's leg. Hayate was now standing, eyes narrowed. The fog began to grow and take shape. It was taking on a human form! Mannen and Hajime both clenched their fists, ready for a fight.

The figure in the mist took its hand and seemed to wipe the shroud down and off it's body. A tall man stood there with dark grey hair down to his waist and tied back in a long braid. His eyes were pale silver and he had a very somber expression on his face. "Pretear Himeno?" he asked, looking directly at her.

The minute their eyes met, it felt like she was falling into that grey mist, falling and falling toward a darkness at the bottom, something dark...

"Caias!"

Himeno blinked at Hayate's sharp voice. What the...She shook her head. Kei came up behind her, laying a hand to her shoulder. The warmth of his touch did a lot to break the spell those eyes had cast. Immediately she could focus again on this stranger in their living room.

Caias smiled coldly. "I've come as a messenger, Hayate, not to start a duel with your Pretear," he said, tones colder than anything she'd ever heard from Hayate.

"Then say your message and leave before I challenge you for endangering her," Hayate said angrily. Endangering her? Himeno glanced from one to the other. She could feel the amount of leafe they were making and knew they were about equal. And she also knew from talking to Feryn and Blaise that Hayate was one of the stronger knights in Leafenia. Whoa...

"His Highness, the Topaz Prince, has requested you summer with him at the royal palace."

"I'll be there by the end of tonight," Hayate answered.

Himeno looked at him, shocked. But...he was LEAVING her? For the whole summer?

Caias shook his head. "Not just you. Pretear Himeno's presence has been requested. His Highness understands you are in school and wishes you to join his court as soon as it is out."

"Um...I need to ask my parents first," Himeno said softly, not daring to look in those eyes again.

Frowning, the messenger looked to Hayate. "She still has living relatives? Hayate, you truly are a fool."

Hayate didn't reply, but Himeno could tell he was moving dangerously close to being thoroughly pissed off.

"Himeno has been the most capable Pretear I have ever had the honor of working with." She looked up, shocked at the rage in Feryn's voice.

"Ditto, mate. Hayate's choice was bloody good." Blaise took a step forward, lips set in a thin line.

"Yeah, Himeno's a great Pretear!"

"I love Himeno!"

"Take it back, scumbag!"

It was touching how quickly her knights came to her defence. She smiled softly, reaching back to touch Kei's hand.

Caias was a little taken back by their outbursts. Snapping his jaw shut, he said, "I will inform the Topaz Prince of this and will return with his reply. Until then..." There was a loud POP in the air and then all the mist faded away as if it hadn't been there. The sun was shining again, birds singing. It wasn't cheerful like it had been before.

Kei dropped his hand from her shoulder and she was suddenly very cold. "Who was that?" she asked. She hugged herself, glancing around at the older knights.

"Caias, the Knight of Mists," Kei answered. It was very obvious he hated this new knight. "He's the Topaz Prince's bitch, running around doing everything he can to kiss ass."

"He's also one right bastard in a fight," Blaise muttered, rubbing his arm. Himeno knew he had a long jagged scar there and had often wondered about it. Now it was obvious. Caias and Blaise had dueled, and the scar was the result of that duel.

"Okay, so he's someone's toady. Big deal! Why do you guys look so scared? It might be good to spend the summer in Leafenia." She loved going there on weekends, her stepsister Mawata coming every once in a while.

All the knights looked to Hayate, who gave her a very serious glare. "This isn't good, Himeno. This isn't good at all."


	2. Fasten Your Seat Belts Upon Arrival

CHAPTER TWO: Fasten Your Seat Belts Upon Arrival

"Gone? For the whole summer?" Kaoru, Himeno's dad, looked horror-stricken at the thought of his only biological daughter being away for so long.

"Yeah, but don't worry! I can come back anytime I want for a visit," she said ecouragingly.

"B-but, what about the beach? And the carnival? You LOVE the carnival," he continued. Oh, great, was he going to cry on her? Not in front of the knights!

"Mr. Awayuki, I promise you Himeno will be safe," Hayate offered up.

Kaoru glared at him. He liked Hayate very much, but felt it was his duty as a dad NOT to like him in the least. "Oh, really? And YOU think you can to that?"

"DAD! He's been doing that for over a year and a half now! Stop being so weird!"

"Himeno, your father is hardly being weird," Natsue, her stepmother said firmly. "We're only worried about you being gone the entire time...unsupervised." This last was said with an evil glare in Hayate's direction.

"Meaning, you think I'm going away for the summer to have wild, passionate sex with Hayate?" Himeno said, making big starry eyes just like Yayoi did when discussing her latest romance novel.

"Himeno," Hayate said sharply. He was beyond red now and edging closer to being crimson.

"Himeno! That was not very ladylike!"

"Well, I don't see why I can't go unless it's that you don't trust me! I'll have my cellphone on me and any of the knights can open a gateway back at any time. They're all going with me, so I'll be protected like it's nobody's business. So what's the problem?"

Natsue and Kaoru glanced at each other. Kaoru put his head on his arms and began to cry.

"Is he crying?" Kei hissed behind her to Blaise.

"Bloody hell, he is," Blaise muttered back.

Looking up, Kaoru said, "Call everyday and be careful! And take lots of pictures!"

Himeno ran forward and kissed her dad's cheek. "Thanks, dad! And thanks, mom!"

"Just don't let this effect your homework, young lady," Natsue said firmly.

"I won't, I promise!" Himeno waved as she turned and left with her knights. Kei still had her notes and they had to talk about what was going on.

* * *

Himeno bit her lower lip and stared at the flashcard Hayate was holding like she could see through it. "Umm..." Her Lo Mein was sitting in front of her, only half eaten. The entire dining room table was loaded down with notes and books and Chinese food. Hayate thought it was way too much food. He didn't know her study routine!

"Come on, you've been staring at it for twenty minutes," he complained, picking up an eggroll and biting into it.

"Well, I'm trying to think! And you're distracting me." He was doing it on purpose, too. Pushing his hair back, stretching back so his t-shirt pulled across his chest and made her blush whenever she thought of him with his shirt off. GOD! Stupid, stupid brain, homework, NOT Hayate!

"Oh, am I?" He was smiling, making it very obvious he was enjoying himself at her expense.

Scowling, she reached across and grabbed not only the flashcard but one of his fortune cookies as well. Damn it! It WAS carbon dioxide!

"HEY! That was My fortune cookie!" He tried to snatch it back from her, leaning way over the table.

Himeno yanked it further back out of his reach. "Uh-uh, no way, mister! You got the extra fried rice, this one is mine!"

"It was in my pile! Plus, you have all the egg foo young AND the chop suey!"

Shrugging, she scooted her chair back further and tore into the wrapper quickly. Hayate was getting up! Oh, no! Laughing, she hunched over her fortune cookie and cracked it open, trying to read it before he got there.

She laughed harder when his hands grabbed at hers, arms wrapped around from behind. "Come on, give it up," he said.

"I'll never give up my fortune cookie. It's mine and there's nothing-." Evil bastard! He was leaning over just far enough that when she'd turned to speak he kissed her, shutting her up in a way she didn't mind at all.

Fortune cookie fogotten, she wrapped an arm around his neck, pulling him down further. She was supposed to be doing something...She couldn't remember what it was right now.

Hayate went to his knees so that she was slightly taller in her chair, not once breaking the kiss. His hand moved to the back of her neck, holding her as the kiss deepened. She turned in to him, pulling his shirt out of his jeans, touching his waist lightly. His breath caught and he drew back a little, eyes half closed. "Himeno..."

Himeno didn't let him finish. She kissed him again, moving her hands further up his chest, his heart pounding. His lips brushed along her jaw and then lower, to her neck. "Hayate?" she whispered. God, she couldn't think when he was doing that!

"Yes?" He asked back, sitting away from her a little. His cheeks were flushed a little and there was something in his eyes...something that made her heart skip a beat and her hands shake.

"Maybe...maybe we should..."

The door to the kitchen swung open and Blaise came in with a sandwich, stopping with a bit of ham hanging from his mouth, eyes wide. Then, just as quickly, he covered his eyes. "Oi! Oi, bloody hell! Y'know, there's this lovely little place called Anywhere But Here. And that's where I wish me mind was at right now! Bloody, bloody HELL!"

Himeno felt her cheeks burning as the Knight of Flowers made a great show of stumbling blindly back into the kitchen and warning Kei loudly not to go into the dining room. Hayate resumed his seat across from the table, the deep blush going down his neck a little. He picked the flashcards back up and they went back to studying, trying not to think about anything else.

Kei came in, looking over his shoulder at Blaise. He glanced at them and a little smirk came to his face. "Let me guess, he DIDN'T walk in on studying! Here's the rest of those notes for you. Excellent timing on my part. I missed the show."

"God, Kei..." Himeno couldn't look him in the face. That had gotten a little...out of hand. And so did Hayate from the way he was really staring at his Lo Mein.

Shrugging, Kei dropped his papers off on the only blank spot on the table. "Hey, you two have been a couple for a year now, it's only expected that you-,"

"Kei, don't finish that," Hayate warned.

The Knight of Light for once kept his brutal honesty to himself and sighed. "Well, your dad just called, Himeno. He wants to know, since it's midnght, if you're staying or going home?"

Himeno looked at the piles of untouched books. It was Friday night, so she didn't have school the next day. It wouldn't be bad just to crash here and get up early to start again. Her stuff was already spread out and ready. "I'll call him and let him know I'm staying over. Thanks, Kei."

"Uh-huh. Blaise is making waffles tomorrow morning, just so you know."

"REALLY? I LOVE WAFFLES!"

"You should have just said you love food," Hayate said sarcastically.

Himeno turned and stuck her tongue out at him. "Keep it up, mister, and you'll be sleeping on the couch?"

Kei shook his head, hands held up in a defensive manner. "I'm leaving! You two are starting to make me sick with your old-married-couple act!" He went back through the kitchen.

Hayate sighed and tapped the flashcards on the table to straighten them. "Okay, one more time and then to bed?" he asked.

The thought of going to bed made her face flame up. She'd slept with him before...stupid hormones! "Um, okay, sure!"

"And tomorrow, if you want, we can take this to the book store or library. Somewhere less distracting."

She dropped her head on the table. He just HAD to go reminding her...lousy jerk!

He ruffled her hair, which made her raise her head and scowl. "Hey, I'm not a puppy! Don't mess the hair up!"

"Sorry, Tulip-head. Ready?"

Sighing, she nodded, propping her head up on one hand. "Let's go."

Hayate held up the first flashcard for her. And she stared and stared and stared at it. School really, really sucked!

* * *

Himeno dug through the racks of gowns and dresses, not really sure what she was looking for. Hayate had told her to pack at least threeformal dresses plus a ball gown. Apparently the court had this big presentation ceremony, not to mention all kinds of formal affairs. And she had to bring everyday cloths, too.

Mawata was with her, searching the other end of the store. "It's a shame Mayune won't just let you borrow one of hers," she said softly, pulling out a lime green sparkly dress and putting it back. "She's just mad because Blaise told her off."

Himeno snickered at that. Mayune had tried to get Blaise to wait on her when he'd accidentally knocked her over. The whole house had heard the screaming match between them. It ended with Blaise shouting about "crazed female banshees" and stalking off, leaving Mayune gaping, jaw working silently. She'd looked like a fish.

Mawata laughed, too, blushing. "Blaise...doesn't happen to have a girlfriend, does he?" she asked shyly.

Mawata and Blaise? Hmm...not a combination she would have thought of, but love was funny like that. She pulled out a pale peach dress covered in white lace. It wasn't a ball gown, but it was a formal dress. "Hey, what do you think of this?"

Her step-sister came over and looked at the dress. "I like that. Is this for evening or daytime?"

"Umm...Hayate never said."

Mawata went over to another rack and grabbed a white sweater. "If it's daytime, you can wear this over it, see? And since it's strapless, you can take it off for evening wear."

"Hey, cool! You're really good at this, Mawata."

Smiling shyly, she went back to digging through dresses. "Himeno?"

"Yeah?" She pulled out a light blue and green dress, holding it up against herself. Hmm, this looked good, too.

"Do you think...maybe you could...talk to Blaise...for me?"

"Huh? Oh, sure! But why don't you do it yourself? He'd be thrilled!"

Mawata blushed again, eyes shining. "I couldn't! He's so...and I'm so..."

Himeno rolled her eyes. "Look, we're leaving this Saturday for Leafenia. Maybe you can talk online or something before then? I'll give you his screen name and he doesn't even have to know it's you."

"Are you sure he wouldn't mind?"

"Are you kidding me? He'd love it!"

Smiling again, Mawata said, "Okay. Thanks. Here, this one, too." She passed over the lavendar and pink dress she was holding.

They finished shopping, after they found the most perfect ballgown and went back to the house. Himeno immediately went to her room to study, while Mawata (who didn't really study for anything) went online to see if Blaise was on. Himeno kept going through all her triganometry notes, trying to memorize equations she knew she'd never use in real life. But she kept thinking back to when Caias, the Knight of Mists, had come. Hayate had said this wasn't good at all. What wasn't good about it? To her, it was a compliment the Topaz Prince specifically requested they join him for the summer. So why was everyone on edge? She'd been so busy with the finals that she hadn't had a chance to ask. Two of the finals were done, she just had three to go. She hadn't been over to the safe house all week, just going straight to her room to read or something. Tomorrow was Friday and then...

Sighing, frustrated and tired, Himeno put her head down on her arms and stared at the big pot of flowers on her balcony. Her mother had planted those when she was five. She'd always taken care of them, making sure to cut the dying ones and turn the soil to keep it alive. Now that she had Shin, he got a kick out of using some leafe to keep it in bloom year round. Her mother...she still missed her so much. Smiling, she watched the breeze blowing through stir the blossoms.

* * *

Himeno opened her eyes, staring around her darkend room. What the...she must have dozed off. She glanced at her clock. Two thirty in the morning. Yawning and stretching, she got into her pajamas and crawled into bed. One more day and then off to Leafenia. Sighing, she closed her eyes again and fell back asleep.

* * *

Himeno saw Hayate standing by the school gate, waiting for her. Did he...he did! She ran up to him and threw herself in his arms, kissing his cheek. He'd bought her flowers! They were all tulips, all kinds of different colors. It was a joke now between them. "Aww, thank you!"

"So, how did it go?" he asked, taking her hand as they walked away. Himeno made a face when she caught sight of Feryn behind a tree cleaning out Yayoi's mouth. Eww...so public! Of course, the last time she and Hayate had been alone... No, don't go there! It was waaaay different than that display!

"Okay," she answered. He was tracing little circles on her hand with his thumb, a habit of his that she thought was cute. "I think I squeaked by in trig, and chemistry was really good. History, though...I hate it! I got confused over the Boxer rebellion-,"

"-Tell me you're joking! We spent HOURS on that!"

"Yeah, well, it didn't pay off! Oh, well, at least I know I passed and I'm gonna be a senior next year."

Hayate squeezed her hand. "Have you thought of colleges?"

Himeno shook her head. She really hadn't sat down and thought about it. Mayune was going to fashion design school. Mawata was applying to all the ivy league schools and would get in no problem. She on the other hand had no clue what she even wanted to do!

"Well, you'll have plenty of time at court to think about that."

She smiled and looked up. "Really? But I thought I'd be too busy doing court stuff."

Hayate rolled his eyes. "And what do you think court stuff implies?"

Himeno bit her lower lip thoughtfully. Come to think of it, she had no clue whatsoever! She'd always thought it was like fairytales, all dancing and parties and tea. Girlie stuff. "Okay, so, what DOES go on there?"

"It's really boring," he began. "And you have to watch your back and what you say and do. Everyone there is always looking for a way to make themselves more noticeable to the Topaz Prince."

"Even you?"

The look he gave her was enough. She'd known he wasn't like that. Grinning, she hugged his arm. "Not everyone can be like that!"

"No, not everyone. Ravijot's team isn't too bad."

"Who's Ravijot?" She looked up when he stopped outside the ice cream shop.

"Want some? My treat."

As if he even had to ask! Smiling wider, she followed him in. "So?" she pressed. She wasn't going to let this slide so easily.

"Ravijot is the captain of the India team," he explained, pulling out his wallet. He ordered their ice cream, his butter pecan and her new favorite, mint chip with caramel topping and peanut butter cups. "That's really disgusting, you know."

Himeno shrugged. He was allowed to complain about this combination since he'd tried it and practically spit it across the shop. "Well, I like it. What's Ravijot's leafe?"

"He's the Knight of Oceans." He was watching her eat her ice cream, looking a little sick.

Himeno made sure to lick her spoon extra clean. "Mm, yummy! Isn't that the same thing as Hajime's power?"

"Not exactly. Hajime controls water in general. Even when he gets older and more skilled with his leafe, it won't be anywhere near as powerful as Ravijot's. Ravijot uses not only the water leafe, but he can use the force of the ocean currents against an opponent."

"And do they have a pretear?"

Hayate nodded, setting his empty bowl aside. "She's new. They just got her four months ago, and she's having a very difficult time adapting. Her name is Pasha."

She was really surprised with how open Hayate was being with all this. Usually he didn't supply information this detailed about Leafenia and the High Court. She was gonna milk this for all it was worth! "How many other teams are there?"

"There's seven global teams, and then the Red Guard."

"The Red Guard?"

Hayate looked a little uncomfortable, shifting in his seat and twirling his empty ice cream bowl around on the table. "It's the home guard for Leafenia, the ruling Prince's personal guard. Usually it's made of the knights that don't fit with a team. My father..."

Himeno froze and looked up. This was the first time he'd ever mentioned his past. If she pressed him now, he might get defensive.

"My father was the captain of the Red Guard before he died."

She reached over and touched his cheek, wishing she could take the pain away. It still bothered him, and rightly so! His father had died in a duel with Feryn's father. It was the main cause for strife between the two. "Hayate..."

Hayate took her hand, kissing her palm lightly before holding it across the table. "Okay, I really don't think you'll remember half of what I tell you. Especially since we wasted all that time with trig notes to have you fail it-"

"-I didn't fail it," she interupted, pulling her hand away. Such a jerk!

"But it's important that you know the names of the other Pretears and the team captains," he continued as if she hadn't spoken.

Huffing, she sat back. "Okay, fine! So, who's who?"

"You've met the captain of the Red Guard already. Caias, the Knight of Mists."

"HIM! He's the captain of the Red Guard?" Himeno shivered when she thought of those eyes. It was like he was pulling her soul right out of her body.

Hayate nodded, a bitter smile on his face. "He took over when my father died. Erelah and Alaya for Europe. Ajiaso is the captain in Australia, with Fukaira as the Pretear. Kondhae leads in South America with Ameina. And Otoshi and Tasia are in America."

She nodded. Yep, he was right! She'd be lucky to remember even one. "Do I have to know their leafe?"

He shook his head. "No, their names are enough. Don't worry, I'll be with you to point them out."

Himeno smiled and tipped her bowl back so she could drink the last of the melted stuff. "Well, I'll try, but I didn't know there were so many!"

Hayate laughed, toying with her fingers on the table top. "The Presentation Ball is going to be that night. We'll arrive and be taken to our rooms to relax a bit before getting ready. You'll be assigned someone to assist you in preparations. The ball starts at six. When you're ready, you'll be shown to the main staircase where I'll meet up with you. As the captain and the Pretear, we enter together. The rest of our team will come in behind us."

"Wow, this is really formal, isn't it?"

"It is. It's a real pain, too. When presented to the Topaz Prince, curtsy and don't speak unless he speaks to you."

"Why not?" she asked. This was a lot of information!

He shrugged. "It's just considered rude. Once he acknowledges you, we're good to go about the ball. Can you dance?"

"Huh? Me, dance?" She laughed at that. She was soo uncoordinated!

"Right, good point," he said, making a face. He sighed. "Well, Kei can teach you. He's the better dancer. We don't have to stay for the whole thing, just two hours or so at least. There's going to be food there, and drinks. PLEASE, don't gorge yourself!"

Himeno drew herself up. "I don't gorge! God, way to make me sound like a cow!"

Hayate rubbed his eyes and looked away. "Why do I bother?"

Himeno grabbed his chin and turned him back around and kissed him, making sure it was sloppy. He drew back, wiping his mouth. "Ugh!"

"That's why you bother!" She grinned, hugging him.

"Yeah, because I love getting drooled on by some gorging cow!"

Scowling, she hit him, standing up. "I'm gonna go home and finish packing now! Goodnight, Hayate."

"Wait, Himeno!" He jumped up and followed her.

Himeno continued walking. She knew he would follow her. He was too much of a gentleman to let her walk home alone.

Hayate caught up with her just as she turned the corner of her street. He grabbed her arm and spun her around. "Because we're not going to get a chance any time soon..." Himeno looped her arms around his neck, his going around her waist and lifting her up a little. They kissed, and there was something to it that seemed a bit more heated than usual. Like Hayate was trying to make sure she remembered him.

He tripped a little under their combined weight, falling back against the neighbor's shrub lined fence. "OW! That thing's got sharp needles!"

Himeno laughed as he jumped away, letting her go. "Aw, poor wittle baby! Attacked by a big, mean shwub."

Scowling and rubbing the back of his neck, he said, "You'd be screaming a lot louder if it was you!"

"Would not!"

He ignored her, taking her hand and walking her to her gate. "We'll be here around nine in the morning. Be ready, because I'm not waiting."

Himeno rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay! I'll see you tomorrow!" She kissed his cheek and went inside, glancing back to see if he was still watching. Yep, he was!

* * *

Kei opened one eye when he heard the whispers. Someone was in his room. Someone...MANNEN! He moved his pillow enough to look at the clock. SEVEN IN THE MORNING! "Mannen...dead! I'm gonna kill you till you die from it!"

"But, Kei, Hayate said-,"

"Screw him! It is too early to be up on Saturday! He doesn't need me to arrive with the rest of you. Just let me sleep." His eyes came fully open when he smelled coffee. By his bed...He pulled the pillow off his head and saw Blaise grinning down at him with a steaming cup of black coffee.

"Thought that would get ya, mate," he said cheerfully.

Kei took it and drank it, ignoring the burning hotness on his tongue and throat. God, coffee had to be the best thing in the world!

"EW! He's drinkin' it black," Mannen said, making a disgusted face.

Once the coffee hit his system, he could roll over and get out of bed, yawning. "I'll be down in a second," he muttered, stretching his arms over his head. He hated mornings, he really did. No one needed to be up before the sun! He quickly got dressed, grabbed his suitcase by the door and went downstairs.

Everyone else was awake and getting ready to go, grabbing snack bars to eat for breakfast. He ignored Shin trying to give him one and went straight back for more coffee. This was going to be such a long day!

Once everyone was fairly organized, they popped over to Himeno's house to find every light on and the whole place in an uproar.

_"Mon Dieu_! What is this?" Feryn asked.

"Gee, if we knew, do you think we'd be standing out here looking stupid?" Kei asked sharply. Feryn glared at him but didn't answer.

"NO! NO! I CHANGED MY MIND! HIMEEENNNOOO!" Kaoru was hugging his daughter's leg as she tried to leave the house, two big suitcases being lugged out.

"What the bloody hell? Is her dad mental?" Blaise asked. He'd just recently dyed his hair a rather nice plum color.

"DAD! LET GO OF MY LEG! YOU ALREADY-ACK- SAID I COULD GO!" Himeno yanked her foot free and fell over her bags.

Hayate was through the gate and to her side before any of them even thought of it. Kei leaned against the fence as all three of the younger knights ran to her as well. He knew Himeno was absurdly clumsy and thus had expected her fall. He didn't do anything about it because he found it so amusing each time.

"I'm alright, I'm fine," she said, laughing as she got up and brushed her jeans off.

Hayate took one of her bags and Blaise took the other. Everyone gathered around as Hayate opened a gateway into Leafenia, taking Himeno's hand to guide her through. Kei went through last, shutting the gateway after himself.

Oh ther other side was the Palace of Leafe. Himeno's reaction of, "Whoa," was appropriate indeed. Long, thin spires looking like mother-of-pearl rose into the blue sky, forests of deep trees disappeared right into the white walls rising. Blue rivers, three of them to be exact, formed a water fall at one end. It was the most beautiful spot in Leafenia.

"This...is the Palace?" she asked in awe.

"_Oui_, the Palace of Leafe," Feryn answered.

"You weren't kidding about it being a real, honest-to-God palace, were you?"

Hayate smiled, letting go of her hand under the pretense of carrying her bags. Kei knew the real reason was because Pretears and knights weren't supposed to see each other. Himeno didn't know that, though. "Come on, let's get to our rooms."

Finally, an idea Kei agreed with! Coffee was good. Sleep was so much better! He was about to follow them when he stopped, looking around. Wait...that tree shadow moved. That in itself wasn't strange because of the tree, but it's shadow...it was longer, like it was later in the day. He looked up at the sun. No, that position was all wrong! It said it was closer to ten than the nine he knew it to be. What in the world... Eyes wide, he shouted, "HIMENO, LOOK OUT!" And dove forward to save her from the arrow bolt whizzing for her back.


	3. Politics!

CHAPTER 3: Politics!

"KEI!"

Kei winced and sucked in a hissing breath. His shoulder was exploding in pain, blood soaking down his shirt, dripping onto his hands. It hurt...it hurt really bad!

"Kei? Hey, mate, s'not fair to the rest of us if you play the hero all the time," Blaise joked. Kei knew him well enough that he could tell something was really wrong.

"S-So? How...bad?" He asked, glancing up at the Knight of Flowers.

Feryn, Hayate and Mannen had Himeno surrounded, keeping a sharp eye out for other attacks. Hajime and Shin had gone ahead for a medic. Blaise grimaced and said, "The wound itself isn't too bad. But, it was poisoned."

"WHAT?"

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger!" He realized what he'd just said and shook his head. "Sorry, mate, no pun intended! I'd say it was bloody poisoned, though, just cuz it's got the oozy yellow crap comin' from it...unless you're just full of that shit!"

Kei ground his teeth. "Now really isn't the time to be joking around, Blaise! I'm dying over here and all you can think about is a career in stand-up comedy!"

"He's DYING? LEMME THROUGH!" Himeno tried to break through her guard and come to Kei's side. A touching thought, really, but not very wise seeing as this was a blatant assassination attempt.

Well, a good thing about the poison was that his entire arm was numb now. The downside to this was that it also couldn't hold his weight up, so he ended up collapsing forward from his hands and knees position.

"Not even four seconds in Leafenia, and already starting trouble," a familiar voice said. It was a truly beautiful voice, very low for a woman's and with a pitch to it that spoke of years of musical training.

Kei looked up and right at green fingernails tapping on black leather pants. "Hello, Sete," he said.

Sete, the only female knight known to have been born, smiled more broadly. "Hey to you, too, Kei. Let's see what you've done to yourself now." Sete's leafe was a healing one. She could heal anything from plants to people and back again, so long as it wasn't life-threatening. And she'd earned her place at the court because of that and her odd birth. No one could figure out how she was born a knight and not a Pretear.

Her fingers were very gentle in exploring the wound. Kei held still as she examined it, muttering little comments under her breath. She drew back, a sad frown creasing her lips. Tossing back her long brown hair, she said, "Kei, I have horrible news for you."

Oh, God...

"Oh, NO! He can't...," Himeno turned into Hayate's shoulder, tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but you're going to live. And be stuck with Hayate for a long time."

Kei's good hand balled into an angry fist. That...that...WOMAN! "You are such a heinous bitch, Sete! Just wait until I get fixed-,"

"-Oh, so you're going in for surgery, too, are you? Such a shame, really."

Blaise was howling with laughter, slapping his thigh and pointing from one to the other. "Got you right good, she did!"

"Hahaha, funny," Kei snarled. "You almost DID kill me! From a damn heart attack!"

Sete shrugged, still smiling. "Sometimes you need a good scare to prove you're alive. Come on, let's get you in and get that taken care of."

Kei stood, looping his good arm over her shoulders. She was surprisingly strong for someone built as thin as she was. Not that she was disgustingly thin, but it was a lot of long, lean muscle. She trained with the rest of the knights, even though she was never going to pret. For some reason, a quirk like the one that made her, also kept her from preting. It was a very sore spot with her, and one you didn't press unless you were suicidal. She winked them over to the palace entrance and helped him walk inside, ignoring the startled gasps and whispered comments. "Your rooms are on the ground floor," she explained, scowling at someone who gagged at the sight of blood.

The ground floor, a major compliment. Why would the Topaz Prince, who saw Hayate as a potential rival (even though Hayate had no interest in the position), give them a place of honor at the court? Something nagged at the back of his mind, something he had heard or read a long time ago...but the pain reinserted itself and he winced, leaning heavily on Sete.

It felt like forever before they finally got to the wing they would be staying in. Blaise was quick to open the door for them and offer assistance.

"Actually, that would be great. Kei's a big baby, you see-," Sete began.

"The hell I am!" Kei interupted.

"-And will scream like a girl when we push that arrow through. I'll need you to protect me from getting hit."

Blaise grinned a nodded. "That's me job, to protect beautiful ladies. Sorry, Hayate, not that I'm checkin' out your she-demon!"

"Why you- ACK!" Hayate caught said she-demon before she could punch Blaise in the face.

"Your Pretear's room is two down on the left. Oh, and Hayate, Erelah got here not long ago, too. There's going to be a meeting with all the captains and Pretears before the Presentation Ball. Just watch it, okay? He's pissed off with Alaya right now, judging from the screaming I was hearing before Shin and Hajime came and got me."

Hayate nodded, jaw set tightly. "Thank you, Sete. We owe you."

Sete rolled her eyes and flicked a wrist to shoo them away. "I'll talk to you later. Now, I have to go inflict more pain on Kei!"

Kei scowled at her and would have made a sharp comment of Blaise hadn't picked that moment to touch the arrow stuck in his shoulder. "YEOW! IT'S SORE, YOU IDIOT!"

Sete came over to him with a grin befitting the Cheshire cat on her face. "Time to operate!"

Oh, shit!

* * *

Himeno looked up at the ceiling of her room. And up and up. Whoa...and she thought the mansion was ridiculously huge! Hayate dropping her bags by the door echoed in the wide, barely furnished room. There was a huge empty space at one end with circles drawn on it, in various sizes and interlacing. "Why is it so empty in here?" she asked softly, keeping her voice down.

Hayate followed her gaze. "Thos are training circles. The better you get, the bigger the circle you train in," he explained.

"I never used those!"

"I don't like using them because they restrict your movement and train you to fight in a circle only. You're much more use if you have free range."

Oh. That made sense. The bed was the biggest one she had ever seen. It could easily accomodate all her knights with room to spare. Other than that, a long narrow table with chairs and a fire place that took up half a wall, it was empty. "So, this is supposed to be a training room, too?" She went over to the balcony and opened up the doors, letting in the fresh summer breeze. "It's so pretty out!"

Hayate followed her out, but stayed near the door, leaning against it with his arms crossed over his chest. "We're going to be summoned for a meeting soon. You might want to change, seeing as this is an unofficial introduction to the court."

Himeno nodded. She had a really nice ivory suit she could wear. Mawata had suggested she bring it just in case. She was glad she'd listened.

"Himeno, there's one other thing." The way he said it made her turn to look at him.

Hayate wouldn't look her in the eye. In fact, he looked almost upset. "When we enter that meeting, it's as a captain and Pretear, not as boyfriend and girlfriend. I just want that clear."

She went over to him and gave him an awkward hug. It wasn't hugging him itself that was awkward, it was the fact that his arms were still crossed over his chest and he didn't relax as he normally did. Drawing back and frowning, she said, "Hey, what's wrong? It's not that big a deal!"

"We need to be careful here, that's all," he said. His arms unfolded at least, one of them circling her waist. He looked so...tired. Like he hadn't slept in a couple days.

"Why, what's the problem?"

He hesitated before answering. "Pretears and their knights...aren't supposed to have relationships. It's supposed to be business only. And there are some here, Erelah for example, who are very strict about that."

Oh. Himeno stepped back, a little hurt and confused now. She wasn't supposed to have feelings for him? What about the others? She cared for all of them, even Feryn. He'd proven himself loyal and willing to help, even if he was annoying as all hell. Was she supposed to just treat them like they were expendable? She shook her head. "I can't do that! I can't pretend I don't care about you guys. That's just so...cold!"

"Himeno-,"

"No, I'm sorry, Hayate, but I can't go along with that. You're asking me to treat you guys like batteries or something!"

Hayate sighed and touched her cheek, thumb brushing over her skin lightly. "I didn't actually think you would. And it's fine. But it's going to make things a little more difficult around here."

"How? Why do they care?"

"The Topaz Prince could say we're endangering our team and reassign me to another team."

That made her look up, lips parting in surprise. "He can do that?"

"He could if he felt it was in our team's best interest."

The thought of him being sent away brought tears to her eyes. Blinking angrily, she stepped in and hugged him again. This time, he hugged her back, kissing the top of her head gently. "Don't worry, Tulip-head, I'm not going to leave without a fight."

"I don't understand! Why is it bad that I care about you, all of you? I don't see how that can possibly be bad to want everyone safe and happy!"

He rubbed her back soothingly. "It's not. I'm sorry I mentioned it. It's probably your biggest strength, the fact that you DO care. You'll learn soon enough that it's a very rare thing in a Pretear."

Himeno couldn't believe what he was telling her. A Pretear wasn't supposed to care about the knights defending her? She thought of Shin, Hajime and Mannen and what it would be like to use them as a tool to do her job...and it made her sick. Leafenia was very quickly losing it's shiny coat of varnish.

Hayate turned her face up and brushed his lips across hers. "Just forget I said anything," he said against her mouth, his lips tickling as he spoke.

There was a knock on the door. They quickly broke apart, Hayate resuming his position against the doorframe with his arms over his chest.

"Come in," Himeno called.

Feryn and Blaise entered. "We've gotten our summons, cap'n," Blaise said with a mock salute to Hayate.

Hayate sighed and nodded, pushing away from the door. "Let's get this over with. If at all possible, let's try and sit near Ravijot and Pasha."

"An excellent idea," Feryn said. "I could hear Erelah's course tongue from my room."

"Was that the wanker?" Blaise questioned. "Never actually met him, though."

"He is...strict," Feryn answered. It was clear he was being polite.

Blaise didn't comment back, but took a position just behind Hayate and Himeno. Feryn followed suit automatically. It was kind of unnerving the way they were all acting. "Hayate?" she asked softly when she noticed another team coming around a curve ahead of them. The Pretear was very pretty with long blonde hair pulled back in a tightly braided pony tail and she quite literally stalked down the hall like she owned it. She had four knights with her, the one walking in front with short spiky black hair and pale silvery-blue eyes. He gave them a long look, as if measuring them up before turning away arrogantly.

"Otoshi and Tasia, the American team," Hayate said softly. "Tasia thinks she's the top Pretear and Otoshi fuels that."

"Plus, she fights dirty," Blaise added. Not too quietly, either.

The girl ahead of them whipped around, ponytail lashing out and catching one of her knights in the eye. The knight yelped but she ignored him, storming over to them. "Got a problem, pal?" she snarled.

Blaise jumped behind Feryn a little, eyes threatening to fall from his head. "JAYSUS CHRIST!"

Tasia snapped her fingers and immediately a knight was there. Not Otoshi, though. He was busy staring at Himeno. She hugged herself and looked away. That was just creepy. "How 'bout we settle this now, pretty boy? You gonna talk smack, I'll smack yo' ass down!"

"Tasia!" Otoshi's barked order was enough to reel the girl back in, blue eyes still snapping angrily.

Once they were gone, Hayate turned on Blaise, jaw clenched tightly. "We don't need you running your mouth, Blaise! Keep the comments to yourself or you can answer the next challenge without Himeno's help!"

Blaise swallowed heavily and nodded, now more afraid of Hayate than of Tasia. "Right-o, sir. Sorry."

Hayate turned back around and Himeno walked next to him down the hall. "Is that normal for her?" she asked softly.

"Yes. Tasia and Otoshi spend more time bickering about who's really in charge than anything productive. It's one of the reasons the American team has been asking for back up so much lately."

Himeno fidgeted with her t-shirt and jeans, wishing she'd had more time to put that suit on. Another team joined them in the hall, the captain smiling when he saw Hayate. His eyes were a very pale green, like cat eyes, and his hair was short, dark and curly. "Hayate," he said in way of greeting.

"Ravijot," Hayate said back.

The Pretear next to Ravijot leaned forward, large brown eyes shining and waved. Himeno smiled and waved back. FINALLY someone nice! "You're Pasha, aren't you?" she asked, remembering Hayate seemed to like this team.

"Yes, but I cannot remember your name," she said cheerfully.

"It's Himeno."

"Wonderful! I am very happy to meet you, Himeno! If it is at all possible, maybe we can sit together at the meeting?"

"I think that was the plan all along, Pasha," Ravijot said kindly. It was obvious he didn't think Pasha was the smartest person in the group.

Pasha blushed and looked away.

"That's a great idea, Pasha! Thanks," Himeno said quickly.

The girl looked up and smiled thankfully.

"Here we are," Ravijot said, pushing open the heavy double doors to make way for their group.

Himeno looked around a room bigger than her bedroom and crowded with people. She saw Tasia and Otoshi glare at them before going back to their silent scowling. She saw a knight with long auburn hair hanging down his back shaking his finger angrily at a girl with chin length brown hair who was crying. "Who is that?" she whispered.

"Erelah," Hayate whispered back. His eyes were snapping furiously and his hands were in tight fists. He definately didn't like that guy!

The doors at the other end of the room opened and a figure came sweeping in, a long white cape billowing behind like a cloud lined in gold. Himeno squinted to make sure...the person WAS wearing a mask! A white mask with intriquate gold swirls. "Is that the..."

"The Topaz Prince, yes."

Himeno let out a shaky breath. Okay...this was a little different than she'd imagined. "Why the mask?"

"He was scarred across one cheek during a battle fought in the Mountains of Shadow," Feryn whispered. "Since it marred his appearance so, he hid his entire face."

"So, he's a bit full of himself?"

Feryn covered his eyes and rattled off something in French. All she caught from it was something about patience and strength.

The Topaz Prince stood beside a large carved throne/chair thing and waited for everyone to quiet down. Caias stood behind him on his right and another knight to his left. The other knight...something very familiar about him...Himeno's attention was snapped back from trying to figure it out by the Topaz Prince's muffled voice.

"Take your seats so we may start this meeting and end it as quickly as possible."

Hayate held a chair out for Himeno before sitting down himself. Ravijot and another captain were the only other two to do that. Erelah practically slammed Alaya down into her chair. Only Himeno seemed to notice her wince before she schooled her face into an empty mask. This was DEFINATELY not at all what she thought other teams would be like! Feryn and Blaise stood behind them at perfect attention. Very much unlike them outside of Leafenia where Blaise's favorite salut required only one finger waved around generally at anyone looking and Feryn spent a good amount of time ignoring Hayate's orders.

"You all know I am not one to mince words," the Prince said. When he turned their way she caught a flash of amber eyes through the holes in the mask. "So, I will be brief. The Queen of Nightmares is gathering forces again. We will be going to war to stop this threat once and for all."

There were a few hushed whispers. Pasha and Alaya looked scared, while Tasia looked almost ecstatic at the idea of war. Big surprise there!

"They have given us sufficient cause, _si_?" a captain at the far end asked. His nearly black eyes were an amazing contrast against the pale, pale blonde hair pulling free from his ponytail.

"What more cause do you need than her gathering forces?" the Topaz Prince asked coldly.

"Of course, Prince, I was not questioning you!"

Himeno bit her lower lip and nudged Hayate. He glanced at her, raising a brow. "Am I allowed to speak?" she whispered.

He sighed, covering his eyes. "I can't exactly stop you here, now can I?" he muttered. His method of shutting her up involved a lot of lips and a bit of tongue. She smiled and blushed, looking over her shoulder when Feryn muttered something.

Himeno hesitated before raising her hand like she was at school.

The Topaz Prince glanced at her then leaned back a little when Caias whispered something. "Pretear Himeno, you have something to add?"

"Yeah, actually, I was wondering if you could tell me why we're declaring war on the Queen of Nightmares," she asked, her cheeks burning as all the eyes in the room turned on her. Hayate managed to stay sitting very still, but it was obvious he wasn't happy.

"Because she is the Queen of Nightmares, dummy," Tasia snarled.

"Um, thanks for clarifying her name one more time, and if you call me dumb again, I'll yank your braid off and beat you with it for a change," Himeno answered, glaring at the girl. The knight who'd caught the braid in the eye quickly turned his laugh into a cough. So not EVERYONE there was a jerk!

Tasia was about to stand up when Otoshi's hand clamped down on her shoulder, fingers digging in hard.

Himeno looked back to the Prince for an answer.

"Are you saying my word is not sufficient enough?"

Hayate's hand found hers under the table, squeezing it as a warning to watch herself. Himeno shrugged and said, "Well, I just don't like fighting if I don't know what I'm fighting for. And since I don't know the Queen of Nightmares, I really don't think I should be fighting her."

The entire room pretty much gasped. Feryn's muttered, "_Mon Dieu,"_ was almost lost in the sound.

"SILENCE!" Caias' voice boomed through the room, echoing back again and again.

Once everyone was quiet, the Topaz Prince said, "I respect your tenacity, Pretear Himeno, but need I remind you that your job is not to question why. It is to do and, if necessary, die."

Himeno's stomach wretched at those cold words. Hayate was desperately trying to make eye contact with her to keep her from speaking her kind. Not this time! "Forgive me, Prince, but that's stupid!"

The entire room went dead still and silent. Hayate covered his eyes with one hand, cheeks flaming red.

"Excuse me?" the Topaz Prince's voice had gone, if possible, more frigid.

"That's just dumb, asking me and my knights to risk our lives for some war without giving us a reason! I'm not gonna do it, and if you don't like it, that's too bad. Sorry, but no thanks! And what's the big idea saying MY job is to not question orders and risk dying for them? Every book I've ever read, it's been the ruler who sacrifices for the people. Or are you the exception to that stereotype?"

"Hayate?"

Hayate lowered his hand. She could almost hear him gulp. "Yes, Prince?"

"You have had your Pretear for a year and a half, and you have not trained her to do as she is told?" This was said with a great deal of contempt.

"Sir, I-,"

"Hey, stop talking about me like I'm a puppy you're trying to house break! I'm right here and I can answer for myself. Hayate's trained me to use the leafe. He's done his job as far as I'm concerned, and done a good job of it, too! My personality is my own, and none of you here can break me and make me into what you want me to be, okay?"

Alaya was staring at her with something close to awe. Blaise chuckled softly and nudged her in the back to let her know he was proud of her.

The mask made it impossible for her to read what the Topaz Prince was thinking. "Then what do you suggest we do, Pretear Himeno?" he asked. People stirred, a couple talking in hushed whispers with each other.

"Well, have you tried TALKING it out first? I mean, it makes sense to try and solve things by talking before picking a fight. Maybe she's not trying to start a war. Maybe people just want to have her rule them. You never know until you ask."

"_C'est tres retarde!_" someone shouted angrily. Erelah was glaring at her with barely hidden contempt. "To listen to this silly girl as if her opinion matters at all! It is an insult that I wll NOT stand for! If Hayate cannot keep her in her place, then perhaps another captain should step in! I do not mind the task myself, if you wish. There is nothing worse than an arrogant Pretear!"

"Don't even THINK about threatening Himeno," Hayate shouted back, coming out of his chair angrily.

"Easy, now," Blaise cut in, trying to get Hayate to sit down.

Erelah looked him up and down like he was a bug to be squished. "Perhaps it is you have feelings for her that you cannot keep her in line." He laughed bitterly. "Another Pretear whose heart you can break! You have learned nothing from the past, Hayate, and are the more foolish for it!"

"At least Himeno isn't afraid! Maybe that's why Alaya can't pret very long with you! It's not because she's incompetant, it's because she's afraid of you!" Blaise was trying desperately to get him to sit down.

Erelah snarled, slamming his palm onto the table. "Alaya is useless because she does not listen! You know nothing of our situation, Hayate! If you had to deal with her stupidity-,"

Himeno was watching Alaya the whole time. It was like a dark shadow was creeping over her, darker and darker. She knew what that was; Alaya was dangerously close to becoming a Princess. There was something almost wild in her wide dark eyes, like if someone were to touch her at this moment, she would snap. And this argument wasn't helping it at all. "Hayate, it's okay," she said, touching his arm to get his attention.

"No, it's not! He has no right telling me how my team should run and how my Pretear should act," he said angrily.

"Yeah, but it doesn't bother me. Let him say what he wants, he's only making himself look like the asshole here. It's not good for OTHERS to be hearing this." She stressed the word and tried to get him to look over at Alaya.

Hayate caught her meaning, glancing up quickly, eyes narrowed. He could see it now, she knew the minute his hands unclenched and he sat down. And it upset him, too.

Once the heavy silence resumed, the guard to the Prince's left shifted and spoke. His voice was very soft and soothing, eyes a brilliant green shade, pale silvery hair just long enough to pull back. "Pretear Himeno does have a point, Prince. We haven't tried a diplomatic approach yet. If it fails, then there is no question about this war being valid."

Himeno stared at the knight, shocked someone else was agreeing with her. He caught her eye and smiled a little, offering a faint wink.

"I agree with Jikan's advise," Ravijot said.

"And I," the captain who had spoken first said.

Slowly, the others, all except for Otoshi and Erelah agreed.

The Topaz Prince was silent as they finished. Then, spreading his fingers out on the table, he said, "Then so be it. Jikan, as you seem to find such merit in Pretear Himeno's advise, I ask you to be my ambassador to the Queen of Nightmares. And I now call this meeting to an end. Try to calm down before the ball. At this stage in the game, we cannot afford to lose anymore knights." He stood and left, cloak following him as well as his two bodyguards.

Hayate stood up, offering Himeno a hand. He was still very clearly shaken by what had just happened.

Ravijot leaned over and clapped a hand to his shoulder. "Ignore him. Everyone knows he's dragging his team down."

Himeno watched as Erelah grabbed Alaya roughly by her arm and jerked her out of the room. As he passed, he slammed his shoulder purposely into Himeno, knocking her backward into her chair. His elbow caught her eye hard and sharp, causing her to yelp and cover her eye.

"Hayate, NO!" Both Blaise and Ravijot were holding him back now.

"HE DID THAT ON PURPOSE!"

"Prove it," Ravijot said, pushing Hayate back against a chair. "If you challenge him for this, he will say it was an accident and you will be forced to step down! THINK before you act, Hayate! Do you really want your team to possibly be lead by him? Do you want Himeno subjected to that?"

Hayate was very slowly calming down. He wasn't breathing as hard, but the tightness to his jaw and the snapping in his eyes wasn't gone yet.

Feryn tipped Himeno's head back, studying her eye. He made a tsking sound, shaking his head. "You will have a, how do you say, shimmer?"

"Shiner," Himeno corrected. Just great! A ball tonight and she was gonna have a black eye! If it was the last thing she did, she was gonna knock that jerk out!

"Look, maybe we should all just go back to our rooms for a bit and cool off," Blaise said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Pasha came to Himeno's side, wide eyed, and took her hand. "That was very brave of you to say that to the Prince. I would never dare!"

"He's just a guy with a fancy name. It's not that big a deal," Himeno said.

"To you, no, but for me...When I was first presented to him, I almost fell over in fear!"

Himeno blinked (or tried to anyway) and looked at the girl. "You've been to the court before?"

"Oh, yes, when Ravijot first found me. All Pretears are brought before the Prince...only, you were not, were you?"

No, she wasn't. And right now, she was very happy Hayate hadn't done that. "Oh, well, I'm here now, aren't I?" she said cheerfully.

Pasha smiled and nodded. "Yes, and I am happy you are! The other Pretears...they do not like me very much."

"Well, that's just silly! I think you're very nice. Say, wanna get ready tonight in my room? It'll give us a chance to talk without all these boys around!"

"Boy? I'm a bloody grown-ass man, love," Blaise interupted.

Himeno rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean!"

"If you didn't have a man, I'd prove to ya I've got what's necessary!"

"EW! PERVERT!" He had to duck quickly to avoid the punch coming his way.

Blaise was laughing at her, waving airly over his shoulder. "I'm going to go check on our little Kei! When I left him, he really WAS squealin' like a baby girl."

Ravijot took Pasha's arm and steered her out of the room. "We must get some training in before the ball," he explained.

"I will see you later, Himeno," Pasha called, waving as she left.

Hayate, Himeno and Feryn waited a little bit in the room, none of them making a move to leave. After a bit, Feryn broke the silence. "He intends to fight you, Hayate. And he wants you to call a challenge. Do not give in."

"I know. Thanks for the warning, Feryn."

Feryn sighed, looking at Himeno's eye again. "Perhaps Mannen can freeze it a little before the ball so it will not be so swollen. We cannot have our Pretear looking less than her best, _non?_"

Scowling, Himeno brought her fist back threateningly. "Keep it up, Feryn, and we're gonna match!"

Feryn laughed and swept out of the room, golden waves bouncing with each step.

Hayate sighed, hand on her back. "Come on, let's go. You should probably take a nap before tonight. After that little scene, there's no way we can leave early or be late."

"Hayate, why didn't you bring me here when you first found me?" she asked as they walked down the hall.

He was silent for so long she thought he wasn't going to answer. Then, he said, "Because there wasn't time to and because there was the chance they wouldn't let us keep you. We couldn't allow that to happen, not when we needed a Pretear so badly. So, I bent a few rules"

Himeno nodded and hugged his arm. "I'm glad you did." The rest of the walk was in total silence.

When they got to her room, they both hesitated outside the door. Himeno stared at her shoes, hands clasped in front of her. "Hey, do you...wanna come in...for a bit? You know, before the feast and all that when we can't...?"

"Yes," he said. Simple as that.

Smiling and blushing, Himeno opened the door and they went in, Hayate shutting the door after them. No sooner was it shut than he was hugging her, being careful of her sore eye. "I'm sorry, I am so sorry! I should have known he was going to do something like that."

Himeno smiled against his chest. It never ceased to amaze her that barely even a year ago they couldn't stand each other. And now he was apologizing for not being a mind reader! She borrowed a page from his book and shut him up by kissing him, arms around his waist.

It took him a second to respond, but he did, hands cupping her face gently. She pulled him over to the bed, still kissing, and they lay down, him on top. There were no distractions now...maybe...no, she was being stupid! They had both agreed on that issue. But still...

Hayate moved back a bit when she pushed on his chest, breathing hard. His eyes went wide when she tugged at his uniform jacket, trying to get it off. "Himeno..."

"Yes?" she asked.

"We shouldn't...I mean, this isn't..." He couldn't finish his sentence. His jacket found it's way onto the floor and then he was kissing her again, fingers trailing across her stomach just under her shirt.

Himeno pulled the clip from his hair, running her fingers through it to spread it out. She loved his hair. And the way his eyes got all dark blue when he looked at her. And how his hands were gentle on her stomach. Hell, she just loved him! She pulled his shirt up, touching his waist lightly, felt him tense a little before relaxing. She couldn't keep from smiling against his mouth.

"You need to tell me when," he muttered, kissing her neck.

"Okay." But as she said it, she began to wonder when she would, how far this was going to go. She already knew he was the one for her. So what was holding her back? His hand was just under her ribs now, moving around to her back. He was being very, very careful right now. Her hand covered his on her thigh. It wasn't that she didn't trust him not to do anything. It was more she didn't trust herself to say no to him. And that wouldn't be good. They weren't ready. Well, emotionally anyway. But she loved him...wouldn't it be okay if...

"HIMMEEEENNNNOOOOO!"

They broke apart quickly when the door opened, Hayate quickly getting his jacket off the floor, the blush well down his neck. Himeno straightened her t-shirt as Mannen, Hajime and Shin came running in, all looking worried. God, talk about good timing! She was angry at herself for being so weak around Hayate, and she could tell from the set of his shoulders he wasn't too happy either.

"WOW! Blaise said you got hit, but I didn't believe him," Hajime exclaimed, jumping onto the bed and sticking his face right in her eye.

"Yeah, it was just an accident," she said, her face on fire.

"Are you alright, Himeno?" Shin asked softly, holding her hand.

"I'm fine, thanks, Shin."

"Hey, Hayate, how come you- Hayate?" Mannen scowled as began to walk away.

"I'm going for a walk. Make sure you're all ready tonight," he called over her shoulder.

Himeno watched him leave, a little disappointed that he'd left. She couldn't blame him, though. It hadn't been fair to either of them.

"What's his problem?" Mannen asked grumpily, climbing up onto the bed.

Himeno shrugged and forced a smile. "Oh, nothing. Just politics, that's all."


	4. Masquerade!

CHAPTER 4: MASQUERADE!

Himeno blinked when Pasha accidentally jabbed her eye with a make-up brush. Pasha gave her an apologetic smile and continued. "I cannot believe you have never once worn make-up," the Indian girl commented. "Do you realize how many heads will be turning when you enter the room?"

"Really?" Himeno asked, clutching her gloved hands tightly. Mawata had been right, the dress was gorgeous. A very pale blue that was strapless with a big skirt and lots of little crystals all over it. The necklace was a really intriquate choker that had all kinds of loops and twists to it and covered most of her throat and collar bone area. And it had been EXPENSIVE! It was fake, but it still cost almost two hundred dollars! The gloves were long and white and covered her arms all the way up. They kept slipping down, though, which was really annoying!

"Oh, yes! I would be surprised if even the Topaz Prince did not ask you to dance. But, then again, there is only one knight who's eye you are tryng to catch, correct?" Pasha's smile turned sly and Himeno blushed. They'd spent the last three hours getting ready together (or rather, Pasha getting ready and then helping Himeno do the same) and they had talked the whole time about their schools, their knights, everything.

"Well, what about you? You said yourself you liked Ravijot," Himeno said, trying to get the conversation somewhere else other than HER relationship.

Pasha's tanned skin turned a dusky rose color and she couldn't look Himeno in the eye. "That is different. You see, I have already been promised to someone else, so even if I do have feelings for him, anyway you look at it, it is forbidden."

"You're engaged? You're younger than me!"

"It is an arranged marriage. I have been promised since I was five."

Himeno blinked in surprise. An arranged marriage? "But...I thought those things went out a long time ago!"

Pasha laughed, swirling a large brush into some blush. "No, they are still very much practised! Don't worry, though. Amon has been my best friend since we were children. We are both happy that we were not promised to strangers." She held her hand out to show a very pretty ring. It didn't have any stones to it and was just a simple gold band of carved leaves with tiny flowers. "He liked the western idea of a ring so much he made it for me."

"Wow, he MADE this? It's so pretty!"

She nodded proudly before grabbing Himeno's chin and turning her face to the side. "Amon is very sweet and caring. And he knows about me being a Pretear, so it is good."

Himeno sighed and let her finish off her face. She was glad in a way that she didn't have to be engaged to marry someone she didn't choose. At least, as Pasha said, it was a friend she'd known her whole life. There was a knock on the door and Kei's voice drifted in. "Are you two done yet? We're going to be late!"

Himeno stood up, having to lift the skirt in front to walk in the low heels. Mawata had insisted she do low heels to keep from falling and because they were more comfortable for dancing all night in. She opened the door on Kei, now in a dress uniform that seemed to shimmer like sunshine, stumbling when Pasha ran into her on accident. "Hiya, sorry!"

Kei was gaping at her like he'd never seen her before. "Himeno...wow! You look stunning!"

She stuck her tongue out at him as Pasha laughed and said, "I told you they would be staring!"

Mannen, Hajime and Shin all came running up, all three dressed up and grinning. "Himeno, you're so pretty," Shin exclaimed, touching her skirt and laughing.

"Yeah, you look really pretty," Hajime agreed.

"Hey, just remember who said it first! I said it all the way down the hall," Mannen piped up.

Kei rolled his eyes and offered Himeno his arm. "Well, let's go. The others are waiting at the main staircase. Just remember to breath, relax, and let us lead in the dancing and you'll be fine."

"Speak for yourself," Himeno muttered. Kei had spent hours and hours for the last week trying to teach her how to dance. Blaise and the three younger knights had sat on the side laughing at her until Kei said they could be her partners next if they weren't careful. That had gotten them to shut up.

Two of Pasha's knights joined them, the one who seemed to be Ravijot's second giving her his arm. They all went down the hall and up a long flight of stairs to their right. The rest of their two groups were waiting for them up there. Blaise had actually dyed his hair back to its normal light brown color (which he claimed was too plain looking on him) and actually LOOKED like a knight for a change instead of a punk skater guy. Feryn had opted for a very deep crimson ensemble that made his golden hair and pale eyes stand out in startling contrast. And she secretly thought he looked a bit femmy.

And Hayate...he was breath-taking. He still wore dark blue, but it was very formal compared to his uniform. He was staring at her, eyes soft and full of...it was more than love. It was like she could see into his soul...Kei clearing his throat made her snap out of her little daydream and realize she'd stopped in the middle of the stairs, holding up everyone behind her. She blushed and continued up the stairs until she was staring at Hayate's shirt, unable to look higher.

"Himeno...," He didn't finish, but she knew. He was going to tell her she looked beautiful.

She adjusted the little tiara in her hair and laughed shakily. "Yeah, you too," she whispered. His hand came into view and she thought for a second he was going to touch her cheek, which made her heart speed up. Instead, he paused, seemed to realize Ravijot's team was watching and instead took her hand and looped it around his arm.

Ravijot quirked a brow at them, eyes flicking over to Pasha who had to cover her mouth to keep from giggling. The look was more one of admiration than warning, which lead Himeno to think that maybe he felt the same way as Pasha felt about him. Hmm...Yayoi would be having a field day here with all the love connections! "Well, I think we have kept them all in suspense long enough. Diep, Kuda, flank left and right respectively."

The one who had escorted Pasha here and another took positions behind the two and the rest of the knights (all eleven of them) fell in behind, the youngest one being about Mannen's age. He stuck his tongue out at Mannen and the Knight of Ice answered the same. Hayate let out a long, slightly nervous breath and said softly, "Let's make this quick. When we go in, have fun but do not, I repeat, DO NOT mention anything about Himeno becoming the White Pretear. Understood?"

All of them, right down to Shin, nodded grimly. Himeno stopped Hayate from leading the way up. "Why is that so bad? I'm sure the other Pretears can do it, too."

Hayate, Kei and Feryn exchanged looks. Blaise took the hint and ushered the little ones up the stairs, all complaining loudly that they were sick of being kept out of the loop. When it was just the four of them, Hayate took both of Himeno's hands and said, "I wish we had more time to talk about this, but we don't. I honestly never thought we would be summoned here or that I would need to explain much more than you needed to know. The fact is, Himeno, the White Pretear is a very uncommon thing for us. Since the beginning of life, Leafenia has existed in some form or another. And in all that time, there have only been three White Pretears."

"Okay, I get that, but what would happen if they found out?"

Hayate didn't answer her. He looked...sad. So very sad!

Kei stepped in, laying a hand on her shoulder. "You'll be taken from our group and kept here at court. The White Pretear is the strongest and most powerful of them all and should therefore pret with only the strongest and most powerful knights. That would be every knight in the Red Guard, and the Topaz Prince. Unless you want that life, don't mention it. And don't mention that you did it without preting either. As far as I know, that has never once been done by any of the other White Pretears. It will open a can of worms we don't really need right now."

Himeno couldn't breath. This...this was so much more than she had bargained for! She'd just thought they were coming to Leafenia for the summer, to have fun and relax a bit. And now it had become some political game that she didn't know the rules for. "How much more are you not telling me?" she asked pinning Hayate with a firm glare.

"That's it, I swear. As I said, I hadn't thought this was going to come up. I never thought you could become the White Pretear to begin with, and we weren't sure you could do it a second time either. You have, and that's changed the rules a little. I'm not trying to hide things from you." He risked hugging her, being careful of her hair. Himeno closed her eyes, the feel of him holding her making her relax again, brought back the excitement of the evening. She wrapped her arms around his waist slowly.

"The Brazilians are coming," Feryn whispered.

Hayate let her go quickly, stepping back a respectful distance. The new group swept passed them, the captain being the one who had spoken first at the meeting. His eyes swept over her in a not-so-transparent way of checking her out. EW! Hayate's hand brushed down her arm lightly, not to be noticed by the group now beyond them. "Just ignore it. You're going to be getting a lot of those tonight."

Smiling, Himeno took his arm again and they went up the stairs to the rest of their waiting team. Mannen's arms were crossed over his chest and he looked angry. He scowled at Hayate and said, "You're not keepin' more secrets from Himeno, are you?"

Himeno ruffled his hair up and said, "Nope, he's not! Come on, let's go have some fun, okay?"

Mannen tried to scowl more over what she'd done to his hair, but it turned into a big grin. "Okay! I get to dance with Himeno first!"

Kei rolled his eyes and muttered, "That'll be entertaining! Maybe I won't be so bored tonight after all."

Hayate walked Himeno up the stairs, Kei and Feryn right behind them, followed by Blaise, Mannen, Hajime and Shin. Himeno blinked at the bright light illuminating the ballroom, shading her eyes with her hand. Then gasped when her eyes adjusted and she could actually see the room. The floor was polished to a shine so bright she could see the people reflected back on it. Pillars supported a series of white marble arches all around the room, covered in vines and hanging rose baskets, layers of thin gold and white silk. The light wasn't coming from candles or anything, but what appeared to be a giant sphere being held from floating free by a thin silver net attached to the pillars. It threw off silvery-white light like the moon, but it was perfectly smooth, more pearl like than the moon. Little tyipis fluttered through, staying clear of the dancers. Shin's pet flew free from his shoulder to join the others.

"Oh...my...it's so beautiful," she whispered. At the far end was a raised marble platform with a throne carved all over in flowers. plants and little pictures. The Topaz Prince sat on this throne, still all in white but with a golden mask this time. Two figures dressed all in red were behind him at perfect attention. Caias and that one knight from the meeting, Jikan. She almost tripped when Hayate lead her forward, skirting around the dance floor and brought her before the throne. She remembered to curtsy and not look at the Prince or speak to him.

"Pretear Himeno, Captain Hayate," The Topaz Prince said formally.

"Your Highness," Hayate answered back.

"Did you act on Erelah's advise or did Tasia challenge you?"

Himeno looked up, confused by the question.

The Topaz Prince motioned to her eye. "The black eye, Pretear Himeno."

"Oh, that," she said, laughing nervously. "Just an accident. Someone's elbow slipped."

Was it just her imagination or did it feel like he was smiling at her. "Enjoy the ball."

Hayate lead her away at the obvious dismissal and off to one side where there were seats set up. Some younger knights were in a corner playing around with little bits of leafe. Hajime and Shin ran over to join them. Mannen looked like he wanted to as well, but he was taking his job as one of the older knights very seriously now.

Kei leaned against one of the columns, fidgeting with the sleeve of his jacket. "Well, that went very well. Quite frankly, I'm rather surprised."

"I as well," Feryn added, flicking his hair back. He smiled gallantly and held his hand out to Himeno. "Would you care to dance with me, Himeno?"

"Oh, uh...ahahaha! Um, sure?" She glanced over her shoulder at both Kei's and Hayate's shocked faces as she took his hand.

Feryn waited for the right time and swept her out onto the floor, laughing as she missed a step and tried to catch up. "You are not familiar with ballroom, _me cherie?_"

"Nope! Not in the least. Kei taught me how to waltz, but that's about it," she answered, grimacing as they almost collided with someone else. Luckily, it was the nice knight from Tasia's side, who smiled and shrugged as they whirled by. Tasia gave her a deadly glare.

"You are to move opposite me. It is like making love-,"

"WHAT!" She glanced around when she realized she'd said that a little loud.

Feryn laughed again, pulling her tighter to him. "We work together, but as opposites. I step back _a gauche_, you step back _a droite_. Do you see?"

She was glad she knew enough now to understand his directions. "Yeah, yeah I think I get it now. Just, ew to the making love comment!"

"If I were Hayate, you would be dancing like an angel."

Himeno blushed and stared very hard at his shoulder. "You're an insane pervert, you know!"

Laughing, Feryn did a little flick of his wrist and spun her around, making her squeal in surprise. "And you make such _tres mignon_ noises when surprised!"

"Did you just call me a steak?" she asked when she was safely back in his arms. Wait...safely back in FERYN'S arms? What was wrong with that statement? A NUN wouldn't be safe in Feryn's arms!

"No, why would I call a beautiful woman a piece of dead cow?" He looked thoughtful for a second before he said, "It is like a puppy, or a kitten. It is...how do you say, fluffiness? Ah, lala, what is the word..."

"Cute?" Himeno offered up.

"_Oui!_ Very cute noises!" He did his impression of her squeal which had her laughing so hard they couldn't dance.

Kei came up and tapped Feryn's shoulder. "Hayate's busy talking with Kondhae and sent me over to make sure you're not trying to steal her or anything," he said.

Feryn kissed her gloved hand dramatically and bowed aside for Kei to step in. "And so I reach for the rose only to be attacked by the gardener's tool," he commented.

"You better not be suggesting I'm a tool," Kei commented before whisking Himeno away from the laughing Frenchman. He shook his head, smiling. "Damned fool! He knew very well Hayate was glaring daggers into his back."

Himeno smiled, trying to find Hayate in the crowd. She thought she saw him talking to the captain of the South American team but she couldn't be sure. She gasped when Kei yanked her in hard. "Hey, what gives?"

Kei was glaring over her shoulder. "Sorry, someone's elbow was coming too close to your other side. Again," he commented angrily.

Himeno followed his gaze and saw Erelah smirking at them, twirling around with...Tasia? Well, she couldn't fault either one for their taste. They deserved each other! "What's his problem?"

"Erelah has always been very jealous of Hayate. He feels he should have his position."

"But, he's already a captain. What more does he want?"

Kei smiled a little and raised a brow. "He wants to be named a candidate for succession."

Himeno frowned and thought about it. When it dawned on her, her jaw dropped and she stared at Kei. "You mean, Hayate...but I thought he didn't..."

"He doesn't. It was all politics. The Topaz Prince always thinks someone is out to get him. Since the only two at court who chould challenge him in a duel and win are Hayate and Caias, he's decided to make it impossible for them to challenge him without it being treason. He's made it very publically known that if he should step down, one of them will take the throne, thus tying their hands. If it's known he favors them and they challenge him, it looks like treason. It's actually a very clever plan."

Himeno shook her head, looking over at the masked person on the throne. "What about that Jikan?"

Kei followed her gaze and frowned thoughtfully. "He's very new. No one knows where he's from exactly. He's the Knight of Time, which means he can freeze it, speed it up, slow it down. He hasn't been beaten in a challenge yet that I'm aware of."

Wow, so he wasn't all just looks! He was smart AND strong, too. "So how come he's in the Red Guard and not one of the captains?"

Kei shrugged. "From what I've heard, he asked to be put there. He would make an excellent captain though, wouldn't he?"

Himeno almost stopped dead in her tracks when she say Hayate making his way through the dancers to them. Their eyes locked and it was like the breath was sucked right out of her lungs. Kei kissing her cheek made her jump. "You two play nice now. I'm going to go pay Sete back for the emotional turmoil she put me through." He wove his way through the crowds over to the Knight of Healing, who was wearing a black and dark green dress that showed a lot of long leg. She smiled when Kei came over, pushing away from the wall.

Hayate stood before her, just the faintest of smiles on his lips. "I think we're holding up everyone," he said softly.

Himeno blushed at the slightly annoyed looks being thrown to them. Then darker when his hand slid low around her waist to hold her tight to him, his other hand taking hers. The first step was...on his toes. She didn't think she could blush any more, but she did.

He laughed, squeezing her hand and continued to maneuver her around the floor. "It's alright, Kei already told me you were a rotten dancer."

"Hey, is that any way to talk to your- Pretear," she quickly corrected. She'd forgotten the no-dating-the-knights rule.

His eyes darkend a little, but it was with that same look she'd seen before, the one that had no words to describe it. "Is my Pretear offended?" he teased, playing along.

Himeno smiled, pulling his arm a little more snugly around her waist. "Not really. Just make sure you put your toes on ice tonight, or they're gonna be bruised, okay?"

Hayate smiled and she answered back as they continued to dance in silence. She wasn't doing as badly as she'd thought. Feryn's words poked through her thoughts and she couldn't look at Hayate for a long time. It's like making love..."Hayate?"

"Yes?" he asked. He had that look like he was about to kiss her. Her eyes dropped to his mouth and her heart pounded faster.

"Well, I was thinking maybe..." Her voice trailed off when a hand came into view and tapped Hayate's shoulder.

Erelah smiled icily at them. "I believe that was the signal for me to cut in, _non_?"

Hayate stepped aside grudgingly. Himeno tensed up when Erelah's hand went to her waist and he took her other hand. "Shall we?"

Himeno glanced over at Hayate, who watched them dance away, hands clenched angrily.

"You are not what I expected, Himeno," Erelah said, tightening his grip on her hand to get her attention.

"Neither are you," she answered. What the hell was this guy's problem? It was obvious what he was trying to do. "So, how long are you gonna keep trying to bait Hayate before you give up?"

Erelah laughed like she'd said the funniest thing in the world. "_Ma cherie_, I will not stop until I am spitting on Hayate's body. When he is dead, I will be allowed to take over his team. And you will be my Pretear."

Himeno tried to jerk her hand away but his grip tightend almost painfully. "Like hell! There's no way I'll ever pret with you! Now lemme go, I'm done dancing!"

"You dare to order me around?" he growled in her ear. "You do not understand a thing about being a Pretear. You are a living weapon, one that serves the knights. You do not have a say in the matter. Shall I prove this to you here?"

"What? NO!" Himeno gasped when she felt the familiar sensation of a knight merging with her. Except this time it burned, like red hot needles digging into her skin. She hissed, dropping to her knees, her hand still held tightly in Erelah's. She could feel him trying to beat his way into her mind. It was...it was like he was trying to rape her mentally! And she wasn't about to let that happen! "LEAVE ME ALONE!" She used everything she had and blocked him from preting, slamming him backward onto the ground.

"Himeno!" Hayate was helping her to her feet, Blaise, Feryn and Kei standing between them and Erelah. "Himeno, what happened?"

"H-He was trying to force me into preting," she said shakily, burying her face into his shoulder and crying. His arms were around her, holding her to him and whispering reassuring words.

"You bloody wanker! What the hell is your problem!" Blaise shouted angrily.

"That's out of line, even for you Erelah," Kei added in a snarl.

"What IS she?" Erelah asked from the floor, staring not at the three fuming knights in front of him but between them at Himeno.

"She is our Pretear," Feryn said firmly. Mannen, Hajime and Shin had all come up by then, Shin and Hajime running to Himeno and hugging her legs through the poofy skirt. Mannen took a spot next to Blaise, fingers twitching in anticipation.

"She is not just a Pretear! She...She forced me out! She would not ALLOW me to pret with her. How could she do that?"

"Himeno's very strong willed," Kei said, his voice very carefully controled. "If she didn't want you to pret with her, she would naturally fight back. And what reason do you have for preting with her in the middle of a ball, I might ask? I don't sense any danger here."

"Yeah, just you stay away from Himeno," Mannen added.

Hayate left her hugging Hajime and Shin. Erelah was quick to get to his feet, his eyes flashing in...triumph? Hayate got very close to him and if it wasn't for how silent the court had gotten no one would have heard the cold whisper. "If you touch her again, you're mine. I don't take lightly to threats made to my team or my Pretear, and I've warned you once before about this. I won't be warning you again!"

"Then why not settle this here and now?" Erelah breathed, a little smirk creeping to his lips.

"I have my reasons. Stay away from Himeno, Erelah." He turned and began to walk away. He put a hand to Himeno's back and lead them out, Blaise turning around to flick the French captain off.

"Hayate!"

They were almost to the door. Himeno turned with him, and it was like that moment in a horror movie when you know the monster is right behind the victim and all you can do is wait for it to pounce and bite her head off. "Hayate, no," she whispered, trying to get him to keep walking.

But he didn't. He turned back. And it was then she knew he was aware of what was coming next.

"Hayate, I challenge you to a duel! Winner gets Himeno as their Pretear. The loser...well, let us say he shall not be seeing the sun rise again!"

Himeno felt the tears on her cheeks. The minute he touched her arm, rubbing gently, she began to sob. "I accept, Erelah. It's time we get this done and over with."


	5. A False Quarrel

AUTHOR'S NOTE: There was a little confusion over some dialog. Yes, Erelah DOES know Himeno is the White Pretear. And you'll find out why he was so shocked from Kei a little further on into the piece.

I also want to thank everyone for their reviews and continued interest in my stories! It's really touching and makes my day when I have a mailbox FULL of emails and reviews! THANK YOU!

Finally, for this chapter I had some help from one of my readers. My girl Rina was given the task of making up animals and names for them. And did she ever go to town! So, a very special thanks to Rina for her creative input! You saved me a lot of trouble AND allowed for me to write more for this chapter! THANKS SWEETIE!

Okay, that's all! Enjoy, this chapters reeeeally long AND has a lot of action!

* * *

CHAPTER 5: A False Quarrel

"What is this? We have a duel, during my ball?" The knights and Pretears gathered broke apart as the Topaz Prince came over, his two knights behind him. Amber eyes flickered from Erelah to Hayate and back again. "Explain yourselves!"

"Prince, I have challenged Hayate for Himeno," Erelah said with a deep bow. "He clearly is not man enough to control her properly."

Blaise's cough sounded sort of like, "Bullshit,". He looked away quickly as if he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Sir, that isn't the reason for this argument," Hayate said quickly, giving the Englishman a warning glare to keep his mouth shut. "Erelah was trying to force Himeno to pret with him."

The Topaz Prince's eyes swept over Himeno, but it wasn't flirty. It was more like he was trying to figure out a riddle, which happened to be her. "You stopped him, of course." This was directed at Hayate.

"He did not! Hayate is not knight enough to keep me from my prize," Erelah shouted angrily.

"You will do well to remember who you are addressing, Erelah." The Prince's voice was so low and cold it sent a shiver up Himeno's spine. His eyes turned back to hers and held her while he addressed Erelah. "You didn't pret with her because...?"

"She...She wouldn't let me, Prince."

There were gasps and whispers throughout the room now. The Topaz Prince was watching her very closely now, coming toward her. Oh, God...

"She wouldn't let you? Clarify that!" Those eyes wouldn't let her look anywhere else! And she so desperately wanted to. It was like he was trying to read her mind or something.

Erelah was growing paler and paler by the minute. "It is as I said, sir. Pretear Himeno did not let me pret. She...she stopped me."

Himeno stepped back a little, into Kei's chest when the Topaz Prince was right in front of her, staring down. It was very much like staring into Caias' eyes. She felt like she was staring down and down into an amber well that sucked her in like quicksand. And all she could do was fall and fall...This time it was Hayate who touched her hand, just a very light touch, but suddenly she could see straight again, everything clear and not tinted a rich gold color. What the hell? Shaking her head, she stood her ground against the Topaz Prince.

The Topaz Prince was silent for a long time. Finally, he turned sharply, his cloak swirling almost into her face. "The duel will not be held tonight at my ball. Tomorrow afternoon, and it will not be to the death. As I said in the meeting, which you ALL seemed to have forgotten, we cannot afford to lose more knights. This will be decided tomorrow, and after the duel, Hayate, I want to speak with you and Pretear Himeno directly!" The music started again as soon as he sat on the throne and everyone began to mill away, staring at them.

Erelah smirked and blew Himeno a kiss before turning away and fading into the crowd. Himeno shivered and Kei rubbed her arms comfortingly. "Don't worry, Himeno, you know we'd rather die than let that asshole come near you," he said.

"That's what I'm afraid of," she said, wiping her eyes. Her gloves were stained with eyeliner, but she didn't care! Hayate was fighting tomorrow, and she knew Erelah was going to try and make it an 'accidental death'. She couldn't let this happen.

Sete glanced at her quickly before she said to Hayate, "I don't know exactly what's going on here, but I have a good guess. Watch your back like a dog in heat, Hayate. Erelah's not going to be holding back tomorrow." She left them, going over to talk with Ravijot.

Blaise shook his head. "I need a bloody stiff arse drink right about now! Kei, joinin' me?"

"In a minute. I think I'd better do a little damage control first." Kei left Himeno and wandered through the ball again, stopping to chat and listen in on conversations circulating.

Hayate was still holding Himeno's hand. She wouldn't look at him. Why didn't he just walk away, ignore Erelah? Why did he agree to the duel? Why, why, WHY? "Himeno..." She let him hold her, her arms going around his waist.

"We should leave," Feryn whispered. "There are too many eyes on us now."

They broke apart, Himeno wiping her eyes again. This wasn't fair! This was...this was STUPID! "Don't I have a say in this? I don't WANT to go with Erelah! Can't I just tell them all that? Then you won't have to fight!"

"Himeno..." Hayate lead her from the ballroom and down the stairs. Feryn and Blaise were dragging the three younger knights away, Mannen quite literally kicking and screaming. Hayate's hands were cupping her face and then he was kissing her, long and slow, like it was the last time they were ever going to kiss again. The thought of not having him...of him...She started crying harder, throwing herself into his arms. He stumbled backward a little at the sudden movement but stood his ground, holding her tightly.

"Don't do it, please, Hayate! Please, don't fight him! What if he wins? What if you...what if..." She cried against his shoulder, fingers curling into the fabric of his jacket.

He kissed her again, silencing her from finishing that sentence. "I have a reason to win, Himeno. He doesn't," Hayate said against her lips.

When he pulled back this time, it was only to stare into her eyes, as if trying to tell her something silently. She knew what it was, even if he couldn't say the words right here and now. He loved her. He wasn't fighting Erelah for her sake. He was fighting for himself, so that no one else got the same idea as Erelah and tried to separate them. Himeno's hands were on his wrists and she sniffled, but the tears were almost done. "Just...come back to me. If something happened to you, I don't know what I'd do!"

Hayate smiled, but it wasn't happy. "That is one promise I can definately keep. I'm not going to lose, Himeno. And you'll always have me, so don't even think about something happening."

Himeno smiled as his thumbs brushed away a few stray tears "You break your promise, I'm gonna come after you myself!"

He smiled for real this time and kissed her quickly. "Come on, you need to get out of that dress."

Himeno drew back and hit him playfully. "Pervert! Don't think you're getting me out of my clothes THAT easily!" They looked up at the voices and laughter on the stairs. People were leaving the ball, stopped on the landing not far from them, talking to some people out of sight at the top of the stairs. Luckily, no one had noticed them yet.

"Let's go," Hayate whispered. His arm around her waist, they moved quickly and silently down the hall to their wing. She started to go to her room, but he caught her wrist outside his door. "Do you...want to come in? Just for a minute?" He opened the door, waiting.

Himeno hesitated for a split second before going into the room, barely lit by a few candles. It wasn't nearly as large as her room, but it was cozier. It had more furniture in it and looked lived in, whereas hers looked like an overly big hotel room. She froze for a second when his fingers brushed the back of her neck, unfastening the choker. His lips were there shortly after, just a very quick kiss to her neck that made her shiver. If this was the last time they would ever be together...

Himeno leaned back into him when his arm circled her waist from behind, his breath touching her bare shoulder. Hayate was pulling her gloves off, one arm at a time, setting them on the desk by the door. She closed her eyes, turning just enough for her mouth to brush against his jaw. "Hayate..." She just wanted...wanted what? She couldn't think with him staring at her like that. Like she was the sun and the moon and he couldn't look away from her.

Hayate was very, very still behind her. She could feel his heart almost like it was her own, felt his uneven breath blowing across her skin. "Is this what you want?" he asked softly.

"W-What?" she asked, confused. What was he talking about? Did she want him to stop? To go further? What?

"This." His hand moved a little further up her stomach, stopping just under her ribs. "Do you think we're ready for this?"

Himeno thought about it. He was asking if she was ready for sex. Everything about him was so distracting right now. With his fingers massaging her stomach, the other one trailing down her bare arm, she couldn't think clearly enough to decide. Her heart was telling her 'no' but her body wasn't exactly agreeing. "I...don't know," she answered honestly.

Hayate turned her head back and kissed her cheek. "If you don't know, then it's a no, and I won't pressure you to change your mind."

She smiled and nodded. He was so nice! She knew he wanted to go further, but he wouldn't without her being certain. "Can I sleep here tonight?" she asked. She knew it was a little awkward to ask him that right then, but if he didn't win tomorrow...the tears burned her eyes again, but she held them back. He didn't need her crying right now.

"I'd like that. I'd like that very much."

Himeno stepped away from him, reaching behind her for the zipper to her dress. Her hands met his and she blushed. "Thanks," she said, letting him unzip the dress for her. She couldn't tell if his fingers traced her back on purpose or accident, and didn't care really either way.

"I...I have stuff for you to wear. Just wait a moment." Hayate went over to the dresser and pulled open a drawer, unfolding a light blue shirt and some track pants with a draw string waist. "Here, you can wear these tonight. They're a little big-,"

"Damn straight they are," she joked. Himeno took them, smiling when he turned his back to let her get changed. When she was finished, the dress lying flat on the spotless floor, she tapped his shoulder to let him know he could turn around again. He did, touching her face gently. She could tell he was trying to be strong, to not let her know he was sad, but she'd spent the last year and a half getting to know his expressions and could tell. "Why don't you get comfortable? I'll be there in a second," he suggested before pulling clothes for himself out and heading for the bathroom to change.

She went over to the bed, which was still very big, but not as gi-normous as hers. And it was softer, too! She pulled the downy covers up over her head, sighing. She didn't think she was going to sleep tonight, she was too worried about the next day. Her first day in Leafenia and there was already a duel! Himeno hugged one of the pillows to her, staring at the wall over the very top of the blankets. Hayate. The thought of him fighting for her wasn't at all romantic. Yayoi would disagree with her there. She'd say something about it being terribly romantic. But she'd never seen two knights fight. Himeno had, and that fear from before that one of them would die made her bite her lower lips to keep the sob in place, fingers digging into the pillow hard enough she could feel her palms on the other side. She closed her eyes, trying like hell to get those images out of her head. Slowly, they began to fade until all she could see here blue eyes...dark blue with flecks of lighter blue in them...black hair...

Himeno woke up when the bed shifted and Hayate was there against her back, one arm under her head and pillow, the other around her waist, holding her close. He kissed her shoulder gently and whispered, "I love you," not thinking she was awake now and had heard him. He sighed and snuggled in closer, breath tickling the back of her neck. She lay awake long after he had fallen asleep, staring at the wall and listening to him breath.

* * *

"Hayate gave very strict orders, Himeno. He doesn't want you there," Kei said firmly, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the twisted pine tree nearby. He scowled as a flock of tyipis went twittering by, chased by Shin who was laughing at them hands reaching to catch one.

Hajime and Mannen swung out of another tree with brilliant scarlet leaves on it. "We found one, Kei! We found one," Hajime exclaimed.

Kei rolled his eyes. "Great. Thrilling, Fanfreakin- HEY! Let go of my arm!" The two were yanking him over to the tree unwillingly. Himeno frowned when she heard the odd noise coming from it. It sounded like a...

"MWAA! MWAAA!" There was a bear cub in the tree, all snowy white and...with wings? It had beautiful glistening wings that reflected like a prism, splashing color everywhere.

"What is that?" Himeno asked.

"It's a polarpix," Hajime exclaimed excitedly.

"A polarpix?"

"Yeah, see? This one's all grown up, but he'll do! Quick, Mannen, get him before he flies away!"

Mannen scurried up the tree after the mewling polarpix. It clung to it's branch, wings fluttering as it tried to get away from Mannen. The Knight of Ice was on the same branch as it, crawling out further and further until the polarpix had nowhere to go. Mannen stuck his tongue out to one side as he reached for it. "I've gotcha now," he said, lunging forward.

The polar pix flew away into the air.

"WHOOOAAAA!" Mannen fell from the tree. And landed right on Kei.

"You little shit! I swear to God, when I get up, you're dead!"

Mannen and Kei were tangled together, Shin and Hajime laughing next to them. Himeno smiled, but she wasn't really into their games. Her mind was elsewhere, praying like mad that Hayate was safe. Frowning, her attention was drawn away from her thoughts when she saw another odd creature in the grass. It was...sort of hopping, but it had a fish's tail sticking out of its back. The eyes were wide and blue and it's lower jaw came out further than it's upper, making it look sad a mopey. The skin was combination frog and fish, looking like silvery scales at one time and slimy skin the next. Himeno reached out to it when it turned big, sad eyes to her.

"NO! DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

Himeno pulled her hand back at Hajime's shout. And just in time, too. The creature's jaws snapped open and would have bitten her fingers if they'd been any closer.

Shin came running up and used a little leafe to make a wide leaf appear under it and fling the creature like it was a catapult. "That was really close, Himeno," he said.

"What the hell was that?" she asked.

"A para-para toad," Mannen explained, running up with Hajime and Kei. "They're really mean and tricky. Watch out for them, okay?"

All of them stopped when cheers rose from down near the river and around the stand of trees beyond their sight. Himeno felt her stomach clench up like she was going to puke. "It just started," Kei said softly, staring away like he could see what was happening.

Himeno stood up, shielding her eyes against the sun and stood on tiptoe. Maybe she could catch a peek...

"Hey, there's the polarpix again! Come on, we'll get him this time!" Mannen lead them all after the frightened polarpix, which ran away this time, wings fluttering.

"Kei?"

Kei glanced over at her suspiciously. "If you're going to ask me one more time-,"

"No, not that. Why is Erelah all kinds of bent on me being his Pretear?"

"Oh. Quite simply, Himeno, Erelah loves power. And you are by far the most powerful Pretear Leafenia has ever seen."

Himeno looked over at him startled. "But, there were three other-,"

Kei shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's not the same. Not once has it ever been documented of a Pretear, White or otherwise, ever being able to force a knight to unpret, or to even keep him from preting at all. Who knows what else you're capable of?"

"But he doesn't know I can-,"

"Of course he does! Why do you think he gave Feryn to us? As a captain, he wasn't allowed to come over himself. It would have been taken as a challenge, and Hayate would have kicked his ass then. He wanted Feryn to try and seduce you and bring you back with him. Feryn, however, had other plans. He wanted away from Erelah's conniving and was more keen to steal you from Hayate for himself than to bring you to Erelah. Then, you did the smart thing and hooked him up with Yayoi, which surprised the hell out of me but, hey, he's happy and he's out of the house a lot. I'm not complaining!"

Himeno smiled and scuffed her shoe into the grass, digging up a small clump. "Does the Topaz Prince know, you think?"

Kei sighed and shrugged. "He at least guesses at it. I'm certain that's why he wants to meet with the two of you."

Another cheer rose from the trees and Himeno wasn't the only one to look up and wonder what was happening. Kei gave her a quick little hug and said, "Hayate's not going to lose. And Blaise is his second. Blaise fights more like a crazed drunken Irishman than an English one. And he's been looking for an excuse to beat the snot out of Erelah."

Himeno smiled despite herself. "Thanks, Kei." She kissed his cheek and he looked away. Was that blush she saw coloring her cheeks?

"Now where did those brats run off to?" Kei muttered, walking away from her and whistling like he was calling a dog. "HEY! MANNEN, GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!"

"STOP CUSSIN' AT ME," Mannen shouted back from somewhere further down the hill.

Laughing, Himeno ran after Kei. Had she stayed where she was, she would have noticed the shadowy form quickly move behind a tree, barely seen in the shadows.

* * *

Hayate and Blaise stood facing Erelah and his second. Caias had been named, much to Blaise's chagrin. The scar on his arm stood out against his skin like a big white slash, cutting almost around his entire arm, and he was rubbing it self consciously. Sete was near the Topaz Prince, ready to jump in and heal someone if necessary. They would be using swords today, Hayate was relieved to note. He wasn't bad with the other dueling weapons, but the sword was his best. And Erelah's, too, judging from the way was he flipping it up into the air, spinning it over his hands and around and back.

Blaise clapped his hands sarcastically and shouted, "Bloody good show, mate! Did they teach you that at cheerleading camp?" A round of laughter came from the knights behind them. The knights on Erelah's side were less than amused. Every knight was there to witness this, all except for Kei, Mannen, Hajime and Shin. They had a much more important job today. Such as keeping Himeno from being there. If she was and he was forced into killing Erelah...it wasn't something she should see. He didn't kill unless he absolutely had no choice. And he was certain Erelah was going to force that on him today. "Blaise, if something happens-,"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll set the wanker runnin' like a snotty nose and then settle up with ol' Misty there." He blew a kiss and winked at Caias, who's frown turned into an angry scowl. "He looks bloody angry, doesn't he? Should be a good fight today!"

Hayate sighed, wondering why he tolerated Blaise. He always picked exactly the wrong times for his jokes. Kei did have a point though, and that was Blaise would fight to win or die trying. The only thing that had kept him alive when he and Caias had dueled was the Prince saying it wasn't to the death and Blaise being clever enough to get away from Caias quickly and avoid an 'accident'.

The Topaz Prince stood from his throne and immediately everyone was silent. "Today's duel is between Captain Hayate and Captain Erelah," he said loudly. "Their seconds are Captain Caias and the Knight of Flowers, Blaise. The outcome of this duel will determine who gets Pretear Himeno on their team. Knights, arm yourselves and remember that this is not to the death. The sword edges have been dulled for this purpose. On my mark. Begin!"

The knights were cheering wildly as Hayate and Erelah stepped forward, swords ready, circling each other. Erelah lunged first, swinging his sword at Hayate's side. Hayate blocked it, using Erelah's momentum to fling him back, ready for another attack which came almost too quickly this time. After that, it was all he could do to keep up with him, concentrating on blocking and defending than attacking. That was why he missed the sudden slashing of solid wind breaking over him, cutting across his cheek and sending blood arching through the air.

Erelah, the Knight of Mimicry, smiled cruelly. "I believe you have experience fighting your own leafe, _non?_"

"THAT'S BLOODY CHEATIN'! Leafe wasn't mentioned in the weapons list," Blaise shouted accusingly. Everyone turned to the Topaz Prince for a ruling.

"It was assumed," the Prince answered, motioning for the fight to continue.

This time, Hayate pressed the attack, dropping low and swinging his leg out for Erelah's ankles after faking a high attack. Erelah tripped, fell and rolled away in time to miss the slashing wind aimed for him. It dug a deep gouge into the grass but little else. Snarling. Erelah made a stabbing motion with his dulled sword, trying to at least bruise Hayate or hit him hard enough in the stomach. Hayate stepped out of the way, spinning and bringing his sword down across Erelah's back, slamming him into the ground. The crowd cheered again, some even clapping. This was all just a sport for them! There was another air attack that cut across his sword arm, drawing blood to stain his uniform. Damn it! He winced, clamping his free hand over the open wound. His arm was useless.

"Call for your second," Erelah sneered, getting to his feet. "Bring that arrogant _Anglais_ out for me to play with!"

If he called for his second, it would mean he didn't think he could face Erelah, which was as good as forfeiting. The Topaz Prince would think he wasn't capable of being captain and he would be demoted and sent away. He had another plan, a secret weapon of sorts. Forcing himself to smile through the pain, he swtiched his sword to his other hand. "My father trained me very well, Erelah. Let's go!"

Erelah's astonishment quickly evaporated and he renewed his attacks with a vengeance.

* * *

Kei watched Himeno petting the now tamed polarpix, laughing when it nuzzled her. Once caught, a polarpix was pretty much yours. It was an instant domestification that made them such loveable pets and such awful guard animals. The sun was warm and bright on his skin and he was about to lay back and just soak it in when he froze, staring a the treeline. What the...the shadows moved again! They weren't that far out before. As the Knight of Light, he automaticaaly sensed a change in the light patterns, no matter how small. This was only by a couple of inches but...He thought back to the last time he'd noticed this and was up and flying for Himeno just as the arrows whizzed from the tree, black feathered and shafted. Mannen saw them, too and quickly threw an ice wall in place. Kei scooped Himeno up before she could realize what was happening and then had to dive into the ground, shoulder first as two more arrows were aimed right at where they were flying. "Son of a bitch " Kei snarled, making sure to take the brunt of the fall and then lay on top of Himeno to protect her. "Shin, a containment field around us only!"

Shin was quick to respond, throwing up a netting of vines and leaves just as another volley of arrows hit it. Shin gasped and fell down, but his field still held in place.

"SHIN! Oh, no, Shin!" HImeno ran to Shin, who was crying softly. She held him in her arms, rocking back and forth to comfort him.

"That was the first time a shield of his has ever suffered an outside attack," Mannen said softly, eyes wide.

"I fainted my first time," Hajime said, grinning proudly at Shin, who smiled through his tears of pain and even managed a laugh.

"This isn't a time for joking," Kei snapped, eyes scanning through the thick vines as best he could. "Someone is trying to kill Himeno!"

"Why would they do that?" Shin asked, standing up on his own. His round green eyes were full of shock.

"I don't know," Kei answered honestly. And he truly didn't. She was more valuable alive than dead to anyone. He watched their shadows intently to see if they shifted at all.

"I don't like this, Kei! Let's just find the guy and blast him," Mannen growled.

"Goddamn it, Mannen, I'm trying to concentrate!" He waited a little longer. Nothing. The shadows didn't budge. It was like...it was like they were losing hours in a day or something like that. Very odd. "Okay, Shin, you can drop it." Maybe whoever was doing this was waiting for them...maybe not. There was only one way to find out. Kei was ready to push Himeno down if necessary.

Just as he thought! As soon as the containment fields dropped, the shadows shifted fractionally and Kei dove for Himeno to shove her down. They both hit the ground, Himeno sliding a little away from him. Her scream of pain froze him in his tracks. No...no, please! "Hajime, get Hayate and Sete here NOW!" Hajime took off fyling through the air as Mannen and Shin, both teary eyed, ran with Kei over to Himeno. And the shadowed figure still hiding in the trees disappeared without them knowing it was even there.

* * *

Hayate blinked, trying to get the grey spots out of his vision. The blood loss was starting to effect him. Erelah was in about the same shape. blood dripping down his sword arm, which had rows and rows of slashes going up it as he'd tried to keep the wind attack from tearing into his face and chest. All he needed to do was disarm his opponent.

"HAYATE!"

He turned to Blaise on the sideline. Blaise made a silent signal to him, one they had worked out that morning to tell each other their opponents weaknesses. They had borrowed it from watching bsaeball teams operate and it meant simply that Erelah's weak spot was high blows, left shoulder. He nodded, turning back in time to stop the sword from connecting with his head.

Erelah snarled into his face, straining and trying to push Hayate onto his knees. "Give it up, Knight of Winds! You know that I have won, and Himeno is mine. And believe me when I say I will take great pleasure," he stressed the word on purpose, "in making her forget you! Tell, me, is she a screamer or a scratcher? Ah, well, I shall know soon enough what kind of lover she is!"

Fury rose in him at the statement. It gave him a new strength he hadn't known he had and it was backed by thoughts of Himeno. Of her smile, her laughter. The way she would blush just before he kissed her. And he thought also of Erelah and what he would do to her, how that smile would never appear again. "That's none of your damn business," he ground out, bringing his knee up into Erelah's groin.

"OOO! Bloody good shot, that was! Again, again! OOO!" Blaise was howling, jumping up and down on the sidelines and whooping loudly.

Erelah hunched over on himself at the double blow, wincing in agony. Hayate kicked his wrist and the sword went skidding away across the grass. He leveled the dull tip of his sword to Erelah's throat, wishing for the very first time that he could kill this man. "I told you, Erelah, Himeno is my Pretear. And if anyone tries to take her, my face will be the last thing they see before I send them to hell." Hayate looked to the Topaz Prince for a ruling.

"Captain Hayate has won in fair combat. Pretear Himeno remains with your team. Sete, please get some ice for Erelah." The last was said with a slight pang of sympathy.

Sete nodded, but it was cruel. "We only have one Knight of Ice right now, and I'm pretty sure he'll be less than willing to comply," she said sarcastically, yanking Erelah up by the back of his shirt. He yelped when the sudden movement moved...other things that were very sore, and it made Sete and Blaise laugh. "Come on, Frenchie, let's get you taken care of!"

It was then that Hajime came flying in, breathless and crying. "Hayate, quick! Himeno's been shot with an arrow!"

Hayate was gone before Sete could even take off after him.


	6. Payback's A Bitch

CHAPTER 6: Payback's A Bitch

Hayate landed at a dead run, falling to his knees next to Kei, who was holding Himeno still. She wasn't moving. "Oh, God..."

"She's still alive, the wound wasn't fatal," Kei said quickly, turning her just enough for Hayate to see the arrow had just barely found it's mark in her shoulder. "But, this one is poisoned, too."

"And what the hell were you doing when this happened?" Hayate snapped.

Startled, Kei's jaw snapped shut and his golden eyes flashed angrily. "I was picking my ass, what do you THINK I was doing? If I hadn't shoved her down, it would have taken out her throat! Whoever is doing this isn't screwing around with us, Hayate. They mean for Himeno to be dead."

He couldn't touch her. He was afraid to. What if...

Sete landed then, rushing over to them. She took a look at the wound and grimaced. "It's the same poison, just more concentrated. Shit, this is going to be tricky." She sat back on her heels, looking at the wound thoughtfully. Then, clapping her hands together and rubbing them, she said, "Okay, here's what we're going to do. The arrow has to be pushed through. Kei, hold her shoulders, Hayate hold her legs. We can't have her body shifting around too much while I do this. I'm afraid some of the poison is already in her blood stream, and I can't separate it. So, we're going to let it stay and hope to God she fights it off."

"You can't just pull it out? You did it for Kei," Hayate said.

"Again, this is far more concentrated than the arrow Kei took. There's only so much my leafe can do, Hayate. All the poison in the immediate area will be taken care of, but the trace amounts that have started taking effect are beyond me. Oi, Blaise, get the little ones out of here!"

"Right-o. Come on, poppets, let's go," Blaise grabbed Mannen by the back of his shirt and slung Hajime over one shoulder, physically dragging them away. Shin followed behind, eyes wide and teary.

Sete sighed and grabbed the arrow shaft with one hand, bracing her other on Himeno's shoulder. Himeno moaned, wincing a little, but that was the only movement she made. "Here we go," Sete breathed before shoving as hard as she could against Himeno's shoulder.

Himeno screamed, eyes opening a little. "W-What...?" Her head dropped down again.

Kei jumped a little at the sudden blood flow onto his hands and lap. "Damn it, Sete!"

"Oh, sorry, I was trying to tell her not to bleed on you," Sete snarled. "Don't be such a baby, Kei!" She reached around behind, grasping the blood soaked arrow and pulled it the rest of the way through. She set it aside to look at later and then pressed a hand to either side of the open wound. There was a brief flash of green light and when she pulled her hands away, the wound was healed, the only traces it had been there at all being the arrow and the blood. "Okay, let's get her inside and under blankets. I want her kept warm, very warm. We're going to try and sweat the poison out of her faster."

Hayate took Himeno from Kei, lifting her in his arms, even though he wasn't sure he would be able to stand and walk. He couldn't lose her now, not like this! He followed Kei and Sete inside and to Himeno's room, Kei holding the door open for him. Placing her on the bed, he stepped back as Sete looked her over. She checked the pulse, opened here eyes and had Kei flash a little light into them, and felt her forehead and cheeks. Sitting back, she pulled the covers over and said, "She's fine, a little cool feeling, but fine. I still think we should put a medical watch on her, just in case. I can take the first round if you want."

Hayate shook his head. "No, I will. I wasn't there to protect her, I'll stay."

Sete nodded. "Keep her warm, we want her to sweat. I'll send one of the younger boys up later with some food. Try to wake her then and have her eat."

He nodded, taking the chair Kei had pulled up for him. All he could do was stare at Himeno. She was so pale her skin had a greyish tint to it. And she wasn't moving. If she'd only twitch a muscle, some sign she was even there...anything! "Himeno, please wake up," he whispered. There was no response.

* * *

Kei rubbed his temples, trying to ease the headache. Well, actually, it was three headaches. Feryn, Mannen and, surpisingly, Shin. The first two were understandable but Shin...He was really upset Himeno wasn't waking up yet. It had been three days since the attack, and the only sign they had she was even still responding was when she'd had that fever-induced dream which caused her to thrash about and mumble about saving them. Sete had drugged her and then ducked for cover when Hayate had exploded, sending a chair through one of the windows. It had woken Shin up and he'd come to investigate. And he'd decided that if it was making Hayate so afraid, it wasn't good.

"Do you think Himeno would like another card?" Shin asked from the floor, coloring on a piece of paper.

"For the last time, Shin, Himeno is in a comatose state righ now. Flowers, candy, ice cream, cards...none of it is going to wake her up faster," Kei said through gritted teeth. Blaise and Sete were giving him warning looks. He couldn't help it if he hated kids to begin with. Shin was usually the only exception to that rule.

Shin was silent for a long time. "I think another card will make her okay. She has to wake up and read it."

Blaise grabbed Kei's wrist to keep him from turning and shouting at Shin. Hajime was sitting on the floor next to him, hugging a pillow he'd been carrying around for the last three days.

Feryn huffed, flicking his hair back irritably. "I still do not understand how it is there are four knights and not one of you so much as caught a glimpse of the attacker!"

"We were a little busy protecting Himeno," Kei snapped.

"And a fine job of it you did."

Blaise grabbed Kei again to keep him from bitch slapping the arrogant Frenchman. "Okay, let's focus a bit, shall we mates?" he said, for once adopting a commanding tone. "The fact is, someone wants Himeno dead. We need to find out who and fast."

"I think it's Erelah," Mannen said fiercely. He was glaring at the table top like it was the person mentioned.

"_C'est impossible!_ He was fighting Hayate at the time. He could not have been in two places at once," Feryn said firmly.

"Well, I STILL think it's him!" Mannen put his head on his arms grumpily.

Blaise ruffled his hair. "Sorry, little mate, but I agree with Frenchie here. Erelah didn't do it. BUT-," he glanced at Mannen to get him to be quiet and listen, "I DO think it could be one of his team."

"Feryn, can't you talk to them?" Sete asked. She wasn't going to tell them how worried she really was about Himeno.

Feryn rolled his eyes. "They consider me a turn shirt."

"Eh?" Blaised asked.

"A turn shirt? Ah...what is it...someone who is not trusted?" He was getting very frustrated over his poor grasp of slang.

"A turn coat?" Kei offered dryly.

"_Oui!_ That is it! They will not speak to me because I am a turn coat."

All of them were silent, the only noise coming from Shin humming and coloring some picture or other. No one could tell what it was, but they were guessing the peachy blob that looked sort of like an upside down flower was Himeno. Sete sighed and stood up, "I'm going to go check on both of them now." She set a small vial of a clear liquid on the table next to Kei. "That's a sleeping potion. In five minutes, go down and get some coffee for Hayate. Slip this in. He hasn't slept in three days now and looks like shit."

Kei nodded, slipping the small tube into his back pocket. Once the door was shut, he said, "We need to set a guard at all times on Himeno. At least two at each time, and not the same two together. If the person figures out a pattern to the guards, they'll exploit that."

"You should be with her no matter what," Blaise suggested. "You're the only one who can sense what's going on. Got a list of suspects, too." He pulled a wadded piece of paper from his jeans pocket and cleared his throat. "Okay. Caias and Erelah are ruled out. But what about Usogi, the Knight of Shadows?"

Kei nodded. Usogi was very quiet but very set in his ways. He thought Hayate's way of training was too different. "That's a possibility. Who else?"

"Um...Graes, the Knight of Twilight. Again, working off of you saying the shadows shifted and stuff. Lemme see...Bilal, Knight of Forests. That's coming from the tree angle. And...Mursai, Knight of Dreams."

"Dreams?" Feryn asked.

Blaise shrugged. "Well, Sete said it was more a dream state than a comatose one. Mursai could be responsible for that. Oh, last one, Amitan, Knight of Illusions."

Sighing, Kei took the crumpled note like it had the plague, pinching it between two fingers. "Okay, here's how this works. Mannen, you, Hajime and Shin will be in charge of tailing Bilal and Mursai. Try not to make it obvious. Blaise, can you take Usogi?"

Blaise nodded grimly.

"And, Feryn, that leaves you with Amitan and Graes."

Feryn nodded absently, stroking a piece of his hair. "There is one other," he mused. "Jikan, Knight of Time. As you said, it is like we are losing hours in a day. He could be responsible for that."

"Yeah, but why stick up for her if you're gonna kill her?" Blaise pointed out.

"_Touche_, but it would be careless not to cover all bases. If you think you cannot handle him-,"

"Kiss my tight white ass, Frenchie! Jikan's under my watch, y'hear?"

Kei cut in before they argued further. "We know what we need to do. Don't let them out of your sight if you can. I'll handle Himeno's security." And this time I won't screw it up, he thought bitterly.

* * *

Her head...and her arm...her whole body. It all was so stiff and sore. Like she'd pulled every muscle in her body. HImeno forced her heavy eyes open and looked up into darkness. Wha...oh, her room. She was in her room at the palace. Slowly, the attack came back to her and, gasping, she reached for her shoulder. It was healed...not even a scar! Closing her eyes, she lied back again, head swimming at the sudden movement.

"Himeno?" Kei's soft whisper came from somewhere by the balcony doors.

Himeno looked over at him and smiled weakly. "Hey, Kei." Sne noticed someone slumped down in the chair by her bed and frowned. Hayate..."Was he hurt, too?"

"No, just drugged. He hasn't slept in almost four days. Sete and I slipped him one just to make sure he did sleep."

He was awake for four days? "How long have I been out?"

"About that same time. We were all really worried, you know."

Four days. That was a lot of time to lose. She struggled to try and sit up, fighting the dizziness. Kei was suddenly there, positioning pillows and arranging blankets. "Thanks," she said weakly. God, this sucked! it was like the flu and mono combined.

"There's some food, too. You've got to be hungry."

Her stomach rolled just in time. Both of them laughed softly and he handed her a bowl of cold soup. She sipped it without a spoon. Kei sat at teh foot of her bed. He looked so tired! "So, did we get the guy?"

"No," he answered tightly. "We've got a list of suspects, though. Oh, and I promised Shin I would show you." There was a soft bit of light and Himeno looked at where he was shining it, holding it in his hand.

On the little table that had been pulled next to the bed, there were four homemade cards, all colored and scribbled in with crayons. Shin had made one for each day she'd been out. Smiling, she sniffled, wiping her eyes. "That's so sweet!"

"His reasoning was if he made you one everyday you would have to wake up just to see them," Kei explained. She could tell from the tone that Shin had been very insistant on this fact.

Laughing, she picked one up and opened it, reading the little note. Almost every word was mispelled and it took her a second to decipher, but when she did, she laughed again. "Aww, tell him they worked, okay?"

Kei smiled and nodded. "You should finish that and rest a bit more. You're still fighting off the poison"

Himeno nodded, draining off the rest of the broth. She set the bowl and the card on the table and sighed, closing her eyes. She opened them again when she suddenly remembered, "Oh, Kei, did we win?"

"Huh?" He stopped on his way back to the balcony doors.

"The duel? Who won?"

Snorting, Kei shook his head. "As if you even need to ask that! Of course Hayate won."

Smiling again, Himeno settled herself in again, now content to go back to sleep.

Meanwhile that night, in the dark mountains barely even two hundred miles away, there was a dark castle built into the peaks. It rose above the mountain even, shrouded in mist and rains. A sickly green light came from ever window, throwing eerie shadows into the darkness.

In the throne room of this castle sat a very beautiful woman on a black throne made of cut onyx. She looked out of place in such a gloomy and forboding atmosphere. Her hair was a very pale silvery blonde with pale blue eyes and white skin. She wore all white and a faint glow seemed to come from around her, making her look almost angelic. A naked sword sat across her lap as she stared at the man kneeling before her. Two men dressed in black stood behind her, armed with swords. They looked exactly alike in features, but one had silver hair and eyes and the other had golden hair and eyes. "So, is the White Pretear dead?" she asked, voice soft and lilting. It was a voice for singing in a choir, not for such a horrible question.

The man in front of her glanced up and then down quickly. "No, Queen Shimura. The White Pretear survived the poison you gave me. I can kill her, by my own means-,"

"We discussed this. Your means do not meet with my approval."

He remained silent.

One of the twins behind her, the one with silver hair and eyes, leaned forward and whispered something to her. She laughed, the sound a startlingly clear sound that echoed back. "You have swayed me, Ginshima." Turning back to the man in front of her, she said, "You have my permission to use your own means. But remember that once your cover is blown, you are no longer valuable as my spy and thus I can kill you if you displease me."

"I am aware of this, Queen Shimura. All I want is to see Pretear Himeno dead and Captain Hayate in agony over it," he answered.

"My, my, revenge runs strong in your family, doesn't it? Not that I care much. It serves me very well. I can't have the Topaz Prince preting with the White Pretear. It would really ruin my day." She laughed at her own joke. The two guards behind her smiled but did not make a sound. When she was done, she waved her hand. "Strike when you're ready. And do make sure it's painful. I haven't heard a decent death scream in so many years!"

The man rose, daring to look up at the Queen of Nightmares. "It will be my pleasure. I truly hope she doesn't stop screaming until I slit ehr throat." He winked out to the sound of her bell like laughter.

* * *

Himeno woke again when the sun hit her in the face. "Ugh...curtains!"

"Oh, sorry," Sete said. She quickly shut the curtains before coming over to the bed to check on her. "So, how do you feel today?"

"The same as yesterday and the day before that. And even the day before that," Himeno answer irritably. She had woken up that one night and Kei had told Sete. After Sete checked to see if she was healing alright, she had insisted that Himeno remain on bedrest for another week. Himeno wasn't very happy about it.

She looked around the room, saw Feryn standing watch by the balcony. "Where's Kei?" She was so used to seeing him on guard duty.

Sete waved a hand and rolled her eyes. "That one! Most stubborn man I've ever had to deal with. He seems to think like Hayate that sleep is for babies."

Hayate..."Where's-,"

"Hayate was summoned before the Topaz Prince. Don't worry, he'll be back soon. Until then, eat some food and relax."

Himeno scowled at the dreaded "r" word. If she ever heard "relax" again, she was gonna punch whoever said it! Sete left her and instead of eating her food like she was told, she grabbed her diary and opened it up to write some more. There weren't any tvs in Leafenia so writing in her diary was all...She frowned when a crisply folded piece of paper fell from the page she had opened it to. Sitting up further, she picked it up and opened it. And gasped when she recognized the neat handwriting. But how...when. She began to read the letter, her heart in her throat. Sasame...

* * *

Hayate remained on one knee before the Topaz Prince, being very silent. The Topaz Prince was pacing back and forth, very agitated.

"I had to hear this from Erelah of all knights," The Topaz Prince railed angrily. "It makes me question your loyalty, Hayate, when you keep things of this importance from me!"

"Sorry, Prince, I meant no disrespect," Hayate answered. He didn't, either. He was just thinking of keeping Himeno.

"Himeno can become the White Pretear, a fact that you have hidden from me for over a year! She should have been brought to me immediately when this was discovered. Her place is not as the Pretear of your team, but as my Princess. It is the way of things. It has ALWAYS been the way of things! The White Pretear prets with only the strongest knights."

And marrying the White Pretear is the only way you can become King," Hayate thought bitterly. He knew that was the real reason Kataru (the Topaz Prince) was interested in Himeno was for political gain. "She wouldn't have been happy," he said softly.

"You never gave her that choice," Kataru snarled. "How can you be so certain of that? Or do you say that because she fancies herself in love with you?"

"Himeno does love me. And I love her." Hayate froze when he realized he'd just said that outloud. Great...

Kataru actually laughed derisively. "She's seventeen. She's young. She doesn't know what love is."

And you do? He very wisely kept that to himself. "I said that because I know Himeno. She's too much of a free spirit for the High Court."

"I could look at this as treason."

His stomach did a backflip. Treason meant instant banishment from Leafenia. And if a knight wasn't allowed back in to rejuvenate, his powers faded and he became human. Swallowing heavily, he managed to say in a level voice, "The Prince is free to take my actions anyway he pleases. But if it truly were treason, I wouldn't have brought her here in the first place."

Kataru sat back down in his throne. "Luckily, I am willing to overlook this slight. I want Himeno safe as much as you, maybe more so. Pick two of my personal guards to watch her. Any two you wish."

Hayate looked up at that, surprised. What...did the Topaz Prince honestly think to change Himeno's mind about him? He answered the Prince immediately. "Hoti, Knight of Snow. And Jikan, Knight of Time. But I want it clear they are to do nothing more than guard Himeno. She is still a part of my team."

"For now. We'll see how angry I am later," Kataru answered. "Get out!"

Hayate rose and left, heading quickly back for Himeno's room. He stopped when Kei walked passed him, arms crossed and looking angry beyond reason. "Kei?"

Kei stopped and turned around. "Don't go in there, Hayate," was all he said.

Hayate turned when he heard the shouting and ignored Kei, running for Himeno's room. What now?

* * *

_Dear Himeno,_

_I'm writing this because I feel you need to know the whole truth about what is going on. I couldn't tell you when I was alive because what was done was necessary, but it is hardly fair to keep you in the dark on this. First, I want you to understand I love Takako. I love her more than I can properly express. And it is because I love her so deeply that I cannot live with what I have done to her. You see, Himeno, the reason for our leafe turning on us is that there is a very thin balance between good and evil. Too much of one and the balance will try and even itself out. Takako was the balance to our good leafe. Without her, the leafe was getting out of control. It was decided by Kei, Hayate and, reluctantly, myself that Takako had to become the Princess of Disaster again in order to save all of us. The 'greater good' as Kei put it. I abandoned Takako on our wedding day, knowing it would break her heart. And then I gave myself to trapping her in the Tree of Fenril again because I couldn't live without her and if I was going to die, it might as well be for a cause. Kei and Hayate knew you would try and stop Takako from turning back, and were relying on you becoming the White Pretear again to seal the Tree and save everyone._

_I'm not writing this to upset you. I'm writing this so that you understand the sacrifice made for all of you. Kei and Hayate didn't tell you because they didn't want to hurt you. Everything the Knights of Leafe have done has been to protect you and serve you. Whether it be with hiding the ugly truth or laying down their life, you have touched us all so deeply that we would do anything for you. That was the reason of my sacrifice. You saw in Takako the same good that I did. And when I turned on you, you never gave up on both of us. For that, I am eternally grateful. Thank you, Himeno, for everything._

Himeno reread the note again as tears slowly plopped onto the page, smudging the ink. Lies...all of it. They had lied to her, and Sasame had died for it. Sasame...She pushed the blankets off the bed. She had to find Hayate. If this was true...she could feel the rage boiling inside her, ready to explode.

Feryn peeked in when he saw her standing shakily. "_Ma cherie?_ Can I be of some help?"

"Yeah. Find Kei and Hayate," she said, voice shaking.

"But why ask for them when a perfectly-,"

"FIND KEI AND HAYATE!"

Feryn's eyes widened and he hastily left the room. He came back a few minutes later with Kei, who went to her anxiously. "Himeno?"

Himeno tried to count to ten, to breath deep, to do SOMETHING calming! Nothing was working. "Kei, tell me again why Takako turned back into teh Princess of Disaster," she said slowly.

Kei gave her a puzzled look, glancing over at Feryn. "Uh...she turned back and-,"

"No! Tell me WHY she did!"

"I...I don't know what you're asking me!"

"STOP LYING, KEI! I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED! YOU LIED TO ME! YOU LIED TO TAKAKO! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS! SASAME DIED FOR THIS AND YOU LIED TO ME ABOUT WHY HE DID!"

"Himeno-,"

Himeno, tears burning her cheek, shoved him away when he made to hug her. "Get away from me! Just get out! I can't believe you did this!"

Kei's jaw tightened and he spun around and left, slamming the door.

Feryn took a step toward her and she pinned him with a glare. "I said both Kei AND Hayate! Go find Hayate now!"

Feryn spun to leave when the door opened and Hayate came in, looking worried. "Himeno..." He came over to her and tried to pull her in.

Himeno shoved him back and slapped him across the face. "I know what happened with Takako! And it makes me sick! YOU make me sick! After you swore to me you weren't keeping anything else! I can't even stand looking at you!"

Hayate was very still, fists clenched and not looking at her. Good, she didn't want to look at him either. "It's more complicated than that," he said slowly.

Himeno snatched the letter up. "Then EXPLAIN it! Stop shutting me out all the time! It's like you don't trust me-,"

"That's not it at all!"

"That's exactly it! And if you can't trust me with something this important, I don't think we should be together!"

That made him look up. "You don't mean that," he said softly.

Himeno wiped her eyes. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't! I'm too angry right now to tell. All I know is that I don't want to see you for a very long time! Get away from me!" She fell on the bed, sobbing. He had lied to her. That night...when they had gone into Leafenia...he was trying to distract her until it was too late to save Takako. He had USED her!

The door slamming shut was the only clue she had that he was gone.


	7. To Break Up Or Not To Break Up

CHAPTER 7: To Break Up or Not To Break Up

Everyone noticed that something was wrong. Even Pasha gave them odd looks as she and Himeno would hang out together a lot more now. Neither Hayate or Himeno would look at each other if they happened to pass in the halls and tried very hard not to have to speak to the other. Kei, too, was getting the cold shoulder, but if she saw him she at least acknowledged he was there. The only people who seemed happy with this arrangement were Erelah and the Topaz Prince. Erelah was openly joyous about it, and even more ecstatic when Himeno actually talked to him civily about sharing a training session with their two groups. Hayate, as captain, vetoed that idea quickly. And then disappeared for the rest of the day when Himeno went to watch the European team practice.

The rest of the knights were treated just fine. Himeno wasn't mad at them. She still laughed at Blaise's jokes, gave Shin hugs and kisses (these doubled if Hayate happened to be around) and played with Mannen and Hajime as if nothing had happened. Feryn she was nice to as well, but he was unusually quiet and less flirty with her. It seemed he was very upset by the fractioning of their team.

Sete, Blaise, Feryn, Kei and Hayate were all sitting in Hayate's room. Himeno had Hoti and Jikan guarding her, so they could have a little time to theirselves. Which Blaise decided to use to call an emergency meeting. The younger knights and Himeno had picked just that time (Coincidence?) to play loudly under Hayate's window. He'd slammed them close, shaking the glass panes threateningly and taken his seat again, looking worse than hell.

"Make this fast, I'm busy," he bit out sharply.

"Yeah, busy skulkin' like that Gollum fella in Lord of The Rings," Blaise muttered.

"Say it louder if you're going to say it at all!"

Blaise decided that wouldn't be very good for his health and moved on. "Right-o. Look, it's been a week since the last attack. We've all been tailing our suspects with no results, though I think we can knock Jikan off. He's under the Prince's orders to keep her alive."

"What are you talking about?" Hayate asked dully.

"When Himeno was hurt and you went mental for a few days, we decided to take a little action, draw up a list of suspects and tail them around secretly."

"And you did all this without my go ahead or telling me?" He was getting very close to being furious.

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Mate, you were more useless than fake dog shit! We could have told you some crazed alien overlord was comin' to suck yer brains out through a straw and you would have sat there brooding like you are now!"

Hayate's frown deepened. "I'm not brooding," he muttered.

"Whatever. The point is, we're still trying to keep Himeno alive, right? So, we're back to square one. How the bloody hell do you catch someone when you don't know what he looks like?"

"Maybe we're thinking too narrow on this," Sete said into the silence that followed. "Maybe it's not a knight. It could be another Pretear AND a knight. Tasia, for instance, wouldn't take too kindly to Himeno being the White Pretear. Or Alaya who would do it because she was ordered to by Erelah."

"That is a valid point," Feryn conceded. "I can tackle that angle. I can be very pursuasive with the ladies."

"Finally, a task worthy of you," Sete joked. Blaise and Kei (surprisingly) smiled at it.

"Now, I'm not trying to pry here," Blaise began carefully. "But we do need some answers from you guys though. Firstly, what happened to the Knight of Sound?"

Hayate and Kei looked at each other for a long time. Hayate made a sound of disgust and looked away. "A while back, you heard about how our leafe was out of control?" Kei began, taking the reins from Hayate. When Blaise nodded, he continued. "Well, it was because it had nothing to do, nothing to fight. So, we had to have a source of evil for it to focus on or we were all dead. And we just happened to have two Pretears at the time, one of whom used to be the Princess of Disaster."

Sete guessed where the story was going and groaned, shaking her head.

"Takako and Sasame were planning a secret wedding. Sasame was reluctant at first to go along with the plan until Goh's death. Then, he was given the task of turning Takako back. I was supposed to be one of the knights at the Tree of Fenril in case Himeno couldn't become the White Pretear again and seal it like we'd thought. Hayate was the other. We were prepared to give ourselves to this cause, so don't think we did all the scheming and then sat back to wait. But, my leafe turned on me and I was blinded, thus made useless. We didn't have time to formulate a new plan for sealing Takako before the wedding day so we went with it. Sasame ditched her at the alter, lured her to the Tree of Fenril and gave his life to sealing her. Hayate and Himeno were in Leafenia that night. Hayate's job was to keep her distracted until Takako was the Princess of Disaster again."

Blaise covered his eyes. "Bloody hell! Lemme guess, make out with her so she doesn't notice? No wonder she wants your balls on a plate!"

"That was really attractive, Blaise," Sete commented dryly.

"It's the bloody truth, woman! You even so much as breath his name, Himeno goes all scary-mad on your ass! Took out Tasia the other day for some snide comment."

Hayate looked up at that. "Is she okay?"

Blaise shrugged, giving him an odd look. "Tasia's fine. Had the nastiest split lip I've ever seen though!"

"Not Tasia. Himeno."

"Oh. Oh!" Blaise started laughing. "I was gonna say, you replaced Himeno with that crazed bitch? No, Himeno was fine. Pulled her off before Tasia could even take a swing. Otoshi wasn't there to challenge us, thank God." Hayate looked momentarily relieved.

"Anyway," Kei continued, glaring at everyone until they were silent. "Himeno became the White Pretear and we were all saved. The reason we didn't tell her is because we all knew she would be very upset over the inevitable. Some things can't be helped, like Takako being our nemesis. Himeno is still naive enough to think that a bandaid can fix every little pain."

"You are wrong about that," Feryn said sharply. His blue eyes were getting a very set, angry gleam to them. "Himeno is not as naive as you think, and it is a shame that you do not see this. She is a very strong woman who does not need to be babied along as you have done. You should have told her the truth. She would have been upset at losing two friends, not over the inevitable. As a gentleman, I should challenge you both to a duel for harming such a sweet person!"

Everyone stared at him like he'd suddenly burped flames. It was Blaise who shook his head, blinking. "Must need a drink, the Frenchman's makin' sense," he muttered.

"He's right," Hayate said softly.

"Now I REALLY need a drink," Blaise exclaimed.

Hayate was staring at the table top, but some of the dark brooding had left his face. "We should have trusted her to do what was necessary. We didn't. We let her down. Sasame knew this, that's why he wrote the note to her. We lied to her, Kei."

Kei didn't answer that, but everyone could tell he was now almost as upset as Hayate. Sete rubbed his arm gently, a concerned look on her face. "It's not that bad, you guys," she said. "As a woman, I can tell you there is one very easy way out of this. Admit you were wrong and apologize. Grovel even. That's all she's looking for, I can pretty much guarantee it. And then never, NEVER keep her out of the loop again. What you two did is something Erelah would do. You used her as a weapon, a tool. And that is why she's mad. I'm sure she knows you thought you were protecting her, but as Feryn said, she can take care of herself, and when she can't she turns to you guys. Just make sure you do it quickly. There's a rumor going around that the Topaz Prince is going to ask her to remain at court. And in her current mood, she just might agree to it."

Kei nodded absently. "You're right, Sete. I'll do it today."

The Knight of Healing nodded, smiling. "Good, because I'd hate to have to rack you in front of everyone," she teased.

"You're just trying to get in my pants."

For some reason, her cheeks flamed up and there was no caustic remark sent back.

Feryn and Blaise looked at each other with raised brows. Could it really be true? The Knight of Healing and the Knight of Light?

Kei sighed and stood up. "Blaise, how about that drink? I'm going to need one before facing the dragon."

Blaise was out of his chair and heading for the door before Kei could even move. "That's the best bloody idea I've heard all day! Feryn. Sete, Hayate?"

Sete and Feryn agreed, but Hayate stayed where he was. He knew Himeno well enough to know that she wasn't going to take just a simple apology from him. It had to be something more. But what?

* * *

Himeno laughed despite the agony in her heart. Shin squealed and went running from their pet polarpix (named Po Po by Hajime), tripping over his shoe laces and sprawling to the ground, still laughing when Po Po caught him and started mewing.

Pasha laughed as well, glancing up from painting her own toenails a brilliant magenta color. She'd already gotten Himeno's and had offered jokingly to get the two guards behind her. Jikan had laughed, claiming magenta wasn't his shade of pink. Hoti had given her a startled look and ignored her. "Hakim is the same way," she commented, watching the knight in question tackle Mannen to the ground, shouting something about being King of the Hill. Mannen growled and flung his opponent off of him.

"Yeah, it's nice they can play together," Himeno mused, hugging her knees. She glanced over her shoulder at the two guards. "Do you guys wanna sit down?"

Jikan smiled and shook his head, eyes constantly moving over the scenery. "Thanks, but how would it look of your bodyguards were slacking off?" he asked. His voice...she loved hearing him speak. His voice was almost as gorgeous as he was. She knew Pasha felt the same way when her friend's cheeks turned a lovely cherry color.

"Himeno, can I ask you a question?" Pasha asked softly, now grabbing Himeno's hand and working on her short nails.

"Sure!"

"I am afraid you will not like it, but I have heard some things. You and Hayate...are you broken up?"

Himeno's stomach rolled. She should have guessed that was the question. And for some reason it made her heart ache even more. The thought of losing him hurt worse than what he'd done. Why? She had every right to hate him, to tell him to leave her alone. Sighing, she said, "I don't know. We never actually said we were. But at the same time, we're not even talking to each other. I don't know why he's mad at me! I wasn't the one to lie!"

"Maybe he's not mad. Maybe he is only very sorry he lied. I am sure he would not have lied without good reason," Pasha offered up.

"Maybe," Himeno acknowledged.

"Perhaps he was only trying to protect your feelings. How would you have reacted had they told you everything?"

Sighing, Himeno gave her the other hand and said, "I'd be really upset. And I don't think I could have preted or anything for a long time."

Pasha shrugged. "Anyone with eyes can tell you two are in love. I do not think he saw what he did as harmful or deceiving. Hayate trusts you with his life everytime you pret with him. You cannot pret with someone if you do not trust them. He wanted to protect you. And that to me is very sweet and romantic."

Himeno was silent as she spoke. What she said...it made sense. Hayate DID have to trust her when they preted because if she failed, he was the one who got hurt. And it would be just like him to want to keep her safe. She sighed again. "I doubt he'd want to talk to me right now," she muttered. "I was pretty mean."

"Any woman in her right mind would have been," Pasha offered up. "Given the magnitude of your discovery, even a man would have been upset. And probably thrown punches, so be happy you showed restraint."

She smiled at that, shaking her hands to help the nail polish dry faster. Pasha screwed the cap back on and looked up. "Kei is coming over," she said. She picked up her make-up box and waved. "I will see you later, Himeno! Hakim, lunch will be ready soon."

"Okay," Hakim hollered back before Hajime jumped him from behind, wrestling him to the ground.

Himeno stood up, brushing the dirt and grass from her hands onto her jeans and waited for Kei. The Knight of Light stood in front of her, not looking her in the eye. "Himeno, I'm sorry," he said softly after a long pause. "It was wrong not to have told you from the start. I...that is we...all felt it was better you didn't. None of us like to see you upset and-," He didn't get a chance to finish because she was hugging him. Slowly, he hugged her back, confused.

"I know, Kei. You guys wouldn't want to hurt me. I'm sorry I was so angry," she said.

"No, don't be sorry! We had it coming. It was pretty shitty of us to do that."

Himeno smiled and stepped back. "Friends?"

Kei smiled. "I'm insulted you would have to ask," he answered.

Himeno laughed and sat down again, Kei sitting next to her. The two guards remained silent behind them. "Good timing, Kei. Mannen's getting his ass kicked."

"Oh, joy! I was wondering what all the shouting was outside. Disturbing the peace for a good cause, I say," Kei answered drolly.

Shin ran up to them then, Po Po right behind him and Tyipi on his shoulder. "Himeno, are you and Kei friends again?" he asked shyly.

Himeno smiled and nodded.

"And are you and Hayate and Kei all friends again?"

She looked away from the Knight of Plants. "Not yet, Shin. We will be, though, don't worry."

Shin beamed and ran away again, screaming when Po Po fluttered behind him.

Kei leaned back, closing his eyes when the sun hit him. "You know, I've never seen Hayate this depressed in my life. He hasn't left his room for more than meals or being summoned by the Topaz Prince. And I think he's worn that same t-shirt the entire time, too. It's disgusting!"

Himeno smiled at that. Hayate was a compulsive cleaner by nature. "Is he really...do you think maybe he won't...?"

Kei scoffed at the idea. "He's just angry at himself. And scared. No, wait, scratch that. I think he's terrified."

"Of me?"

"Of losing you. He's too scared to talk to you because he's afraid the next words out of your mouth are going to be, 'Let's break up'. And that's why he's avoided you like the plague. He's fighting a battle he only suspects is coming. Is it?" He glanced over at her.

Himeno tucked her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. Was it? Was she going to break up with him? What he and Kei had done was lousy, true, but their intentions were only the best. Was she really mad at him for lying? Or was she mad because she knew they were right, that she would have tried to stop it from happening? The second one brought up a trace of anger, but it also gave her the answer she was looking for. "No, it's not. I guess I'm more mad at myself than at the two of you. You guys were right, I would have tried to stop it. Hell, I DID try and talk Takako out of it!" She sighed heavily. "Just promise me something, Kei?"

"Right now, you could ask for my right hand and I'd give it to you no questions asked," he answered.

Smiling again, she said, "Just tell me these things, okay? Yeah, I'll be upset about it, but I'll get over it eventually."

Kei smiled and nodded. "Deal. Hayate's in his room, by the way. I would suggest that you two wait outside the door. It could get very mushy," he called over his shoulder to the two guards.

Jikan grimaced. "A good plan. Looks like we're moving, Hoti"

"Brilliant," Hoti muttered. They both followed Himeno inside.

Himeno could barely breath, her heart pounding. What if he wouldn't listen to her? What if he didn't care anymore? So many what-ifs, so few answers. The two guards walked silently behind her as she turned the corner to their wing. She bumped into someone, jumping back. "Oh, excuse- Hayate?"

Hayate quickly took a few steps back. Kei wasn't kidding. He DID look terrible, like he hadn't slept in ages and had allergies to boot. His eyes were all red and looked a little puffy, and it was obvious he hadn't shaved in a day or so. "Go ahead," he mumbled, stepping aside for her to pass. He stood there, waiting patiently and looking so miserable it made her heart almost shatter. She had done this to him? Just a few harsh words on her part had brought down one of the strongest knights in Leafenia. She knew there were a few people who would be overjoyed at that thought. And a few more who might exploit that and challenge him, knowing he was weakened. Understanding slammed into her like a semi truck into a deer. Hayate had strength...because of her! She was his reason for fighting, for living even. It was that thought that made her go to him, cupping his face in her hands. He winced at her touch but didn't pull away.

Himeno stood on tiptoe and kissed him gently. He pulled back then, eyes wide. "Himeno..." She smiled and kissed him again, felt his arms go slowly around her waist. She had almost convinced herself she didn't need him, that she could get over the thrill of being in his arms. But she knew now that wouldn't ever happen. If anything, being away from him was the most horrible thing in the world. It had left her empty and aching inside, and that emptiness was starting to fade the longer he held her, kissing her long and slow.

"Ah...ahem," Hoti said, clearing his throat.

"Come on, I think she's safe for now," Jikan answered when the Knight of Snow was ignored.

They continued to kiss, Hayate whispering apologies in between them. Thin tears ran down his cheeks and Himeno kissed them away. "It's okay," she whispered. "I've already forgiven you, dummy."

He stopped kissing her for a second, giving her a puzzled look through the tears. "Did...did you just call me a dummy?"

Himeno laughed and threw her arms around his neck. "Yep, I did! But you're my dummy, okay?"

"Thanks...I guess. I've missed you, Himeno. And I am so sorry."

"Stop apologizing. Kei did enough groveling for the both of you" She drew back, taking his hand. She knew for certain now how she felt about him. And that there was no one else for her. Himeno tugged on his arm, walking over to the door to his room. Yes, she knew now.

Hayate followed her, confused. "Himeno, what...?"

She opened the door and pulled him in, shutting it behind her.

Hoti sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "That was something I never thought I'd see! Hayate screwed up over a girl."

Jikan smiled, but it didn't reach his emerald green eyes. Like his mothers eyes. "Yes, it's something I hope never to see again."

Hoti laughed at that. He continued walking even when Jikan stopped in the middle of the hall. Turning, he frowned. "Jikan? Something wrong?"

Smiling, he held his hand out. A bow and a quiver of arrows appeared out of no where. "No, everything is just as it should be."

"Jikan, NO!" It was the last thing Hoti said before the arrow exploded through his neck.

Jikan knelt, checking for a pulse. He smiled when he realized there was none to be found. And now, the final touch to throw suspicion away from him...He took another of his own arrows and, taking a deep breath and holding it, jammed it into his shoulder hard, a scream leaking out through his gritted teeth at the pain. He waited a moment, catching his breath and watching his blood roll down his own arm before he called for help.

* * *

Himeno tripped over her shoes as she kicked them off, still engrossed with kissing Hayate senseless. In fact, she was so engrossed in it she didn't realize they were at the bed until she fell over it, landing on her back and pulling him down on top of her. "Ow," she squeezed out when the sudden weight of him knocked the air from her lungs.

"Are you alright?" he asked, quickly sitting back up. His hand was on her hip, and had been on it's way to her ass when they'd fallen.

She nodded, reaching behind him and pulling his hair free. Her hand circled his neck and pulled him down again, practically eating his lips right off. He made a small surprised sound but didn't stop. He didn't even protest this time when she tugged his shirt free of his jeans, helping her get it up and off. Oh...holy...crap! Himeno blushed when she realized she was staring at him, but she couldn't help it. She ran her hands up his warm skin and behind his back. He had to use lotion or something because his skin was so soft. She'd ask him later and tease him for it if he did. But right now...right now it was nice. It was perfect.

"God, Himeno..." Hayate closed his eyes tightly, as if trying to remember something important. Like breathing. "I...I don't think this is fair. To either of us. We should-,"

"I want to," she whispered, feeling the silk of his hair brush across her arm. She smiled at the shock on his face and kissed him very lightly. "I'm ready."

It was like she'd just told him he was going to live after a serious injury. Hayate's shoulders relaxed and he let out the breath he'd been holding. Meeting her eyes, he said, "Okay."


	8. Meet The Parents

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, time to clear up a few points. I love getting emails from people, and not just the ones telling me I have a new review. But after the last couple chapters, I've gotten quite a few asking if I am going to put any sex into this story. The answer to that, my darlings, is NO. There will be no sex in ANY of my Pretear stories. Sorry to disappoint, but I do have very good reasons for this.

1) Sex is not a Pretear concept. Pretear is very much about true love and, to me, sex does not epitomize that type of love. Doing stupid things together (like a pillow fight over nothing at all) is love. Sex is just nature's way of continuing the species. Wow...I sound like a heinous bitch, don't I? Don't mean to, honestly!

2) I don't condone under aged sex. If you're old enough, or, better yet, married, then knock yourself out! No one here is married. So, no sex. I HINTED at it in the last story (look up said pillow fight scene, and read Sasame and Takako's part a little more closely), but that was between full grown adults who were getting married. So, until one of my knights pops the question (and breaks my heart in the process), everyone will have to content themselves with make out sessions!

3) It's very awkward writing sex scenes. I tried one...felt dirty afterward! It worked with the piece, though, so I left it in. Trust me, it's sooo much better I don't write it! It would be the worst sex scene ever written!

4) I kow I keep hinting and eluding to Hayate and Himeno having sex some time soon...but there IS a reason other than future sex for why I put those little hot spots in. Himeno is seventeen years old. Hayate is her hot as hell boyfriend. My goal with these stories was to show the characters have REAL lives outside of preting and fighting monsters. One thing I really loved about the manga and anime was that unlike other stories similar to it, the characters all had jobs, went to school, got ice cream. And it wasn't just an, "Oh, Sasame works in radio." You actually SAW him at work! So, I wanted to make the character emotions as real as possible. And, trust me, I KNOW what raging teenage hormones and a hotter than hot boyfriend will do to a seventeen year old girl! It's very confusing when you're a teenager trying to sort through all this crap. That's what I was trying to do with Himeno and Hayate's relationship, bring it a little out of the fairy taleness and into reality. Of course, there are still bad guys out there to fight, and evil queens and such...not to mention the whole preting thing. Okay, that's all. Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 8: Meet The Parents

Kei heard the call for help as he and the younger knights came inside. "Mannen, take Shin and Hajime to your room," he ordered, setting Shin down.

"But I wanna help," Mannen argued.

"Just do as your told, Mannen!" He took off running down the hall, following the hasty footsteps of other knights and a couple Pretears to the source of the cry. He skidded and almost fell in the blood on the ground. "Oh, my God, Hoti!"

Sete was kneeling over Jikan, tears dripping down her cheeks. "Hoti's dead," she sniffled. "I couldn't heal him."

Jikan turned away from Kei's look, bitter tears hanging in his eyes but not falling. "We had just escorted Himeno to Hayate's room," he murmured. "I think whoever did this thought she was still with us. Hoti got hit and that was the first I knew of it. I ducked in time but...I didn't see who..."

Kei's eyes narrowed. He hadn't felt anything. Not one damn thing! What the hell was going on? "Are Himeno and Hayate alright?" he asked.

Jikan's baffled look was eloquent enough. He had no clue.

"Blaise, Feryn!" The three of them went running for Hayate's room. Kei summoned some leafe and flung it at the door, making it explode inward. "Himeno!"

"WHAT THE HELL!" Hayate was shoved off Himeno, who sat up blushing darkly. Hayate was sprawled on the floor, shirtless and just as red. And it was a little obvious what they had been doing before the door exploding.

The three knights in the doorway just stood, slack jawed and gaping. Blaise was the first to react, letting out a short, shocked laugh, covering his mouth in surprise, and then raking his fingers through his hair. "Holy bloody hell! Whoa... I, ah...WHOA!" He pressed his palms into his eyes as if to get that image out of his head.

Blushing the reddest anyone had seen her yet, Himeno stood up, fists clenched. "Just what the hell are you doing, bursting into someone's room like that?" she shouted, marching over to them angrily.

"She is going to hit us," Feryn exclaimed, backing away and out of the room quickly.

"I'm gonna do more than that! Well, one of you perverts better start explaining, and fast!"

"We...We came to check on you," Kei began. Hayate was on his feet, pulling his shirt back on and so angry he wasn't speaking a word. "See, there...there was an attack and..."

That got both their attentions. "An attack? Who?" Hayate asked quickly.

"It was on those two guards with Himeno. Jikan and Hoti. Jikan took one in the shoulder that Sete is fixing. But Hoti..." He didn't need to finish.

Himeno gasped and ran from the room, Hayate right behind her. They shoved their way to the front just as Sete was helping Jikan to his feet. There was no trace of Hoti anywhere. "Where did he...did he...?" Himeno searched around for at least a body. Maybe she could still save him...

"He already faded," Sete said dully, wiping her eyes. Kei went over and hugged her, petting her long hair back. "Hoti...he was a good friend!" She turned into his shoulder and sobbed quietly.

"Don't I know it," Jikan said, rubbing at his eyes. "He didn't even...he didn't even get a chance to scream!

Himeno went to him, arms open. She hugged him and...

Kei frowned, blinking and looking around. The shadows again! What the hell?

"HIMENO!"

Hayate's shout drew attention to her. Or, rather, where she had stood. Himeno, and Jikan, were both missing. Everyone was talking and shouting, some looking around in shock. Kei stared and stared. What...how? Why would Jikan take Himeno? He'd have no reason to unless...unless...His eyes widened as he slowly pieced it together.

"Hayate! It's been Jikan this whole time! Jikan's been the assassin! It makes perfect sense, don't you see? The shadows shifting, why we never see who it is? Jikan controls time! He's been MOVING through time to different spots. And now he has Himeno!"

Hayate's initial horror at finding Himeno gone was quickly replaced by an anger so intense that he was calling leafe without knowing it. People quickly stepped back at the faint trickles of wind swirling in the hall. Shoving his way through the crowd, he ran from the hall, Kei, Blaise and Feryn right behind. "He's cracked, he has," Blaise commented, swerving at the last second to avoid a collision with Mannen and Hajime. Shin was riding Po Po behind them, the polarpix easily keeping up with everyone.

"We're comin', too," Mannen said angrily. "Nobody takes Himeno without our permission!"

"Hayate, wait a second," Kei shouted. "Do you even have a plan?"

"The plan is, get Himeno and kill Jikan."

Feryn slammed into Kei's back when he came to a sudden hault, bowling him forward a couple steps. "Kill him? Hayate, do you know what you're saying!"

Hayate whirled around, eyes snapping with rage. All the other knights skidded to a halt, pinned in place by that feroucious look. "He has Himeno prisoner. I know exactly what I'm saying, and if you don't like it, stay here! I'm going after them, alone if necessary!"

Kei sighed, shoulders slumping. "We're all going." Maybe they could stop him from killing Jikan if they went. If they stayed, there was no doubt in any of their minds Hayate would go through with what he said.

"We're all bloody in," Blaise growled, scowling so fiercely Shin wouldn't go near him.

Hayate nodded once. "Fine. Let's go save our Pretear." They ran the rest of the way out of the palace and into the open, and when they had enough room, took off flying into the setting sun.

* * *

Himeno gasped at the sharp slap to her face, groaning when her head began to throb. Her head was so foggy...what had happened? Sh tried to move her arms. And found they were chained over her head. What? She looked up, head still spinning and found the chains attacked to the ceiling of a large room. Actually, it was a cave. She could hear bats rustling and squeaking above her. And, when she looked down...

Himeno let out a startled squeak of her own when she saw she was on a ledge out in the middle of nowhere that was just barely big enough for her to stand on. And beyond that little ledge, circling around her like a moat, was utter blackness. Even if she got her hands free, she was trapped.

"Not bad, huh? You know, I wasn't sure about this place at first, but I do think it adds to the drama of the situation, don't you?"

Himeno looked up fearfully as Jikan floated before her, smiling peacefully. "You! Why? What did I ever do to you?" She shouted, trying to force the panic back down into her stomach. She had to think, she had to get free...She couldn't let the fear beat her!

Jikan's smile grew and it shocked her that she knew it from somewhere...just where, though? "Me? You did nothing to me! It's what you did to others that brings us to this little spot. Others that meant a great deal to me...and should have meant more to you."

"Huh?" What was he talking about? "Have we met before? I don't understand! I haven't hurt anyone!"

His smile grew more calculating and he chuckled. "You still haven't figured it out, have you? Mother was right about that. She said you could be a bit oblivious."

Mother? Himeno tried to pull on the chains as he floated closer, green eyes partially closed.

"Allow me to introduce myself a little better. I'm Jikan, the Knight of Time. Son of Sasame, the Knight of Sound, and Takako the Princess of Disaster. And I'm going to kill you." He flew back a few feet and pulled a bow and arrow out of thin air, aiming for her heart.

Himeno's eyes went wide and the scream was stuck somewhere in her throat. No...this couldn't be happening! The scream broke free and one name was shouted, "HAYATE!"


	9. GET OUT!

CHAPTER 9: GET OUT!

Himeno struggled, pulling on her wrists until the chains cut in and made them bleed. If she had to, she'd throw herself over the damn ledge. She wasn't about to die from him! Hayate, please, please, please...

"After what you and my father did to my mother,this is what you deserve," Jikan said coldly, all trace of the smile from before gone and replaced with a deadly calm mask.

Himeno closed her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. Now would be a really good time to become the White Pretear! She had to figure out how to activate it. She thought and thought and tried to concentrate. A difficult task seeing as she was about to die! Nothing happened. Why couldn't she do it? Her life depended on it and she couldn't become the White Pretear! She needed a miracle now.

"JIKAN!"

She opened her eyes when she heard his voice...Hayate! Her miracle stood at the entrance to the cavern. And she could almost feel the angry energy coming from him.

>>>>>>>>>>

"Does he even know where the bloody hell we're going?" Blaise demanded, trying to keep up with Hayate.

"He is following his heart, _mon ami_," Feryn said over his shoulder. "His heart is with Himeno and thus he will find her!"

"That's blarney if ever I heard it! 'Following his heart' my arse! He's just flyin' around blindly in this fuc- OI!" Blaise had to dive low to avoid hitting Kei and Feryn, now hovering close behind Hayate.

Hayate was very still, as if listening to the darkness surrounding them. They were in the Mountains of Shadow now, the lands of the Queen of Nightmares. A very nasty place to be trespassing.

Kei saw something move out of the corner of his eye and looked over. "Hey, we've got company," he shouted.

Knights were appearing out of nowhere, all dressed in black. They were the Dark Knights, servants to the Queen of Nightmares. The Dark Knights began to fan out, forming a loose circle around the Knights of Leafe. Some had real weapons, others were pulling leafe in, ready to use it. One moved forward, grey eyes giving them a death glare. "You're not welcomed here," he said, his voice harsh and grating. "Turn back."

"You have our Pretear," Hayate answered just as coldly. "We've come to get her back."

The Dark Knight laughed dryly. "I know. Our Queen is very interested in her."

"Let Himeno go," Mannen shouted, surging toward the leader angrily. Kei's hand on his shoulder kept him from charging the Dark Knights by himself.

The Dark Knights all started laughing at the young Knight of Ice. "Amusing, really," the first one said. "Almost worth letting you live to make us laugh like that! Almost...unfortunately for you, though, we're of the opinion that the only good Leafe Knight is a dead one. Let's make them good Leafe Knights, shall we?" The Dark Knights began to move forward, almost blending in with the shadows that seemed to follow them.

"Hayate, we can handle them! Go save Himeno," Kei shouted before ducking a water spear aimed for him. He fired back, catching the Dark Knight square in the chest. The Dark Knights once served Leafenia. They had all the abilities of a Leafe Knight, just for the other side.

Hayate nodded and maneuvered through the ensuing fight without getting caught.

Sighing, Kei shouted, "Shin, get a containment field up now! Blaise, stick with Shin and watch his back. Hajime, if you leave Feryn's side once, I'll beat you up myself! Mannen, you're with me. Stay together and try to get them one against two!" Taking a deep breath, he muttered, "Okay, let's se if we can make these bastards a little more visible." He concentrated and sent a flash of brilliant light to break through the shadows and the gloom, making their enemies more visible.

And illuminated the beautiful woman in a black cloak on the ground, smiling. She had a sword almost as tall as she was, point resting down, for now. Kei froze when he saw her, recognizing her immediately. The Queen of Nightmares. Shit, it was a trap!

>>>>>>>>>>

Hayate couldn't explain how he knew. He just did, and he didn't care about the reasons behind it. Just that he knew he could find Himeno. It was like he could hear her screaming for him. He followed his instincts, flying blindly through the night and the treacherous dark peaks. Himeno...He would find her. No matter what happened, he would find her and get her out of there!

He doubled back over a series of caves. He'd heard something...a voice maybe. Hayate paused listening. And then...

"HAYATE!"

Hayate flew into the cave. That was Himeno! And from the pitch of the scream, he knew she was terrified. He landed on the tunnel floor and began to run toward the sound, unable to fly due to stalagtites on the ceiling. He had no clue how far he'd gone or where he was until he burst through the gloom into an open area that was lit along the steep walls by a few torches, skidding to a halt just in time to miss toppling over the edge into the abyss below. Himeno...She was chained to a small pillar of rock in the middle of the cavern, arms over her head and struggling like crazy to get free. And Jikan...

Jikan had an arrow aimed right fo her. He did the only thing he could think of to distract the Knight of Time. He shouted his name. "JIKAN!"

Jikan turned slowly, the bow and arrow fading away into the night. He smiled slowly, hands clasped behind his back. "Hayate, you're running a little early! I had hoped you would have waited until after she was dead, but no matter. So, this is the man my mother had loved first?I I can't say as I'm overly impressed. You know, I've been waiting for this moment for sixteen years...sort of."

"Sixteen years? I didn't know you sixteen years ago!" Was he crazy? Wait, stupid question, of course he was crazy!

Tilting his head to one side, Jikan drifted closer to Himeno. "The good thing about having the leafe of time is that it's of no obstacle for you. You can freeze it, speed it up, go forward or backward. Which is what I did. Right now, I'm still trapped in that damned tree, barely a year old. My mother, Takako, cried every day for sixteen years in that tree. Every. Single. Day. Do you know how much that hurts, knowing that nothing you do or say will ever make your own mother smile?" Jikan traced his fingers down Himeno's cheek and she pulled away, balancing shakily on the ledge. "No, you wouldn't know, would you? Your mother abandoned you."

Hayate moved forward a little, stopping when Jikan turned back to him. A plan...he needed a plan now. "She dies, you know," Jikan continued, moving away from her. "About a week after I turned sixteen. I think she died from a broken heart. For two years she kept saying how much I looked like my father. Oh, yes, I heard about him. I heard about you and your bitch Pretear as well. I think in the end mother just couldn't live with it any longer. And, with her death, I was finally freed from the Tree of Fenril to come and get revenge." Jikan laughed softly. "So, how will this little scenario play out? Do I kill her and watch you suffer? Or do I keep her alive to distract you during the fight?

"Let her go, Jikan. Your fight is with me," Hayate said firmly. He shifted a little, prepared to fly if needed. His eyes were watching Jikan for even the slightest hostile movement toward Himeno.

Jikan pretended to think about it. "Hmm..nope! Sorry, but I don't wish you dead, Hayate. There are far more terrible things in life than death. Such as dying at the hand of your true love."

Hayate froze at that. What...? "Himeno wouldn't ever harm me."

Smiling coldly, Jikan ran his hands up the chains, touching Himeno's hands. "Are you so sure of that? What if the choice were taken from her? Or you, for that matter. Could you bring yourself to harm her and save yourself? Hmm...I wonder..."

"God, stop groping me, you pervert," she snapped, jerking away sharply. She teetered on the brink before balancing back.

Jikan laughed like she'd just told a very amusing joke. "This hardly qualifies as groping. Groping implies lower than the hands." He started to suit action to words.

Hayate was off and in the air before Jikan's hand could get lower than her neck. Himeno's scream was cut off and then...Jikan wasn't in front of him. What? He couldn't be that fast! Where did he go?

"HAYATE!"

Jikan...was behind him! But...how? Hayate bit back the cry of pain when Jikan's elbow caught him in the back hard, forcing him down into the pit. Recovering, he circled back up, looking around for the Knight of Time.

Jikan was behind Himeno, laughing. "Such great fun!" He reached out, trailing fingers on the back of her neck. Himeno twisted around in the chains and aimed a kick for his groin. Jikan caught her foot and pulled her forward off the pillar, deftly flicking the chains from around her wrists so that there was nothing to save her from the fall. Two things happened at once.

One, Hayate moved with more speed than he'd ever managed in his life to try and catch Himeno.

And, two, Jikan snatched her hand, pulling her away from him.

Himeno struggled against his hold, nails cutting into his wrist, but Jikan wouldn't drop her. "I wonder what would happen if I preted with Himeno," Jikan called.

Hayate's heart about stopped. No..."Don't let him in, Himeno," he shouted. Jikan...

Jikan laughed. "On a normal knight, that would work. But I'm not a normal knight. I'm half Pretear. And I think we both know, Hayate, the only way to defeat a Pretear is with another Pretear. So, you see, Himeno won't have a choice in the matter. Let's see how well you fight against the one you love." He looked down at Himeno's wide eyes and smiled cruelly. "Shall we, my dear?"

"Himeno, fight it!" Hayate flew at them, aiming for Jikan, not Himeno. He had to get the Knight of Time away from her!

Himeno screamed in pain as the soft white light filled the cavern. "I...I can't! I can't fight him off! Hayate, get outta here now! AHHH!"

Hayate was flung back by the force of Jikan and Himeno preting. He hit the wall of the cavern, shaking his head to clear it. And when he looked up...

Himeno was floating about ten feet from him, in all bright red. And crying. She looked up at him and whispered, "He...he's taken control of me! I...I can't stop...Hayate, GET OUT!" She screamed, body arching in a way that wasn't natural and then a burst of green light exploded from her, taking the shape of an arrow midflight.

Ducking, Hayate flew higher, heart in his throat. Jikan had forced her to pret. And Himeno wasn't in control of her body, Jikan was. Himeno was going to kill him. The bastard knew very well he wouldn't do a thing to harm Himeno. He was as good as dead.


	10. I'll Be There For You

CHAPTER 10: I'll Be There For You

Sete stared after them for a long time, jaw clenched and green eyes flashing a little. Kei..."I'm going after them," she said, heeled boots clicking on the floor as she started down the hall.

"Hold!" The Topaz Prince had just arrived. "They go of their own accord. This is not the time to attack!"

Turning around slowly, Sete said, "We're all Leafe Knights here. We all took an oath. Protect your team mates. Protect your Pretear. And protect each other. That's what they're doing. And I'm going to hold to the oath I took and protect them!"

"If you leave, it's treason!"

The only answer she gave required no words and one finger lifted. She walked out of the palace, hair whipping behind her.

The entire hall was silent for a long time. Then, fists clenched, Ravijot began to follow her. "Let's go, knights! Pasha, you too!" His entire team began to follow Sete.

Kondhae from South America and his group were next. Soon, every team except for the Red Guard were out the door and going to the aid of their fellow knights.

* * *

Kei winced, dropping to the ground as a bolt of lightening struck in him the chest hard. Shit...This wasn't going well! Blaise had blood dripping from his shoulder and was holding his gut, but still stood his ground protecting Shin and keeping the containment field up. Mannen was weaving and ducking, trying to draw the attacks away from Kei so he could get up. Feryn...where was Feryn? There! Feryn was throwing everything he had at these bastards, bodies littering the ground around him, some already beginning to fade. Hajime was at his back, a shallow cut across his cheek.

"Kei, get up! You gotta get up," Mannen shouted.

Kei pushed himself up in time to fling a spear of light into the Dark Knight going for Mannen's back with a leafe charged sword. The Queen of Nightmare's laughter was disturbing in its pure sound, the joyous notes a harsh back drop to the screams of pain and the battle cries. And Blaise's mad cussing.

"Bloody bastards! Take that! And one for yer whore of a mother! You good for nothin' pieces of mutha-," He was cut off mid rant as a shadow arrow pierced him through the other arm. "CAN YA PLEASE AIM FER THE SAME BLOODY SIDE, YA GIT!"

Kei grabbed Mannen and pulled him away from the earth hammer aimed for him, tucking the younger knight in and rolling with in across the ground and into the barrier. He looked up, staring out of the barrier...

And into angry jade eyes. "Well? Are you gonna jus lie there or open the door for a lady, pig?" Sete joked. And behind her...every last team!

"About damn time," Kei answered. He stood up with Mannen and shouted, "Shin, to your right, drop it!"

Shin opened one eye, all his consentration bent on holding the shield. It faded just enough to let in the Leafe Knights. And now their enemy was greatly out numbered. Better than even that, the crazy bitch had stopped laughing. Good!

Sete gave Kei a quick hug. "You EVER run off into certain death again without me, I'll bring you back from the dead just to kill you again!"

"Wow, was that your way of saying you care?" he said sarcastically.

She never answered him. One of the Dark Knights (the jerk from the beginning) was making a rush for her. It was the most beautifully satisfying thing in the world to see him get his ass handed to him by a female knight.

"Okay, let's get the Queen of Nightmares, Mannen," he said.

Mannen grinned excitedly. "Yeah!"

* * *

Hayate screamed when he was thrown into the wall hard, sliding down it. Where the...oh, right, at the bottom of that pit. He tried to stand, but his left ankle was sore to the point of not holding his weight. And if he wasn't mistaken from the stabbing pain in his right wrist it was broken. He blinked the blood from his eyes and managed to get himself up by leaning against the wall.

Himeno floated down, sobbing so bad she could barely breath. "I-I can't...Hayate! No, please don't make me do this!" It seemed Jikan was saying something to her, something that made her more upset. The sobs turned into wails of despair, and if it weren't for the fact that she wasn't in control of her body, he was sure she would have fallen to her knees. "Please...no! NO!"

"Himeno, look at me." He needed her to understand. He hissed when he accidentally stood on his bad leg too hard.

Jikan let her have that small motion. She looked up into his eyes, and in her eyes he saw a girl on the brink of going mad. If he died...she wouldn't live with herself after that. "Himeno, it's okay. Just...just stay alive."

"No, don't say that! Don't say that!"

"Just promise me you'll stay alive. I love you. I would rather it be like this than me hurting you."

"NO! DON'T SAY THAT! HAYATE!" Her eyes went wide as Jikan resumed control of her body, drawing leafe from within and lashing out at him.

Hayate screamed again as it ripped across his chest. He fell again and this time knew he couldn't get up. He watched in slow motion as his blood pooled on the floor of the cave, looking almost black against the grey stone. Himeno...she was alive. That was all he'd wanted from this. He'd wanted her to live. Once he was dead, Jikan would let her go. He knew that for a certainty, as surely as he knew he loved Himeno more than his own life. As the black spots ate at his vision, his eys growing heavy, he heard her screaming his name. Strangely though, it kept getting softer and softer.

* * *

The Queen of Nightmares was not happy. This wasn't supposed to happen! Jikan had failed her. He had promised the Topaz Prince wouldn't interfere with this. Then what were all the knights of Leafenia doing here? No matter, she would show them the true horror of the Queen of Nightmares. Smiling again, suddenly taking great joy in this battle, she threw her head back and laughed, arms to either side. White lightening leapt from her, striking at the containment field. Let the little one who made it feel pain. His scream was music to her ears. Very strong for a child. If he were alive after this, she would see to it he was hers. The field flickered and then the vines dropped dead, the charred remains steaming in the gloom. She lowered her arms, smiling peacefully as shadowy shapes began to slink over the stones of the mountain, creeping closer and closer. They had answered her call and were coming to her.

Her children, hundreds of them. Shadow demons. They thrived on the souls of knights. And since they were made of shadows, they could break and reform again and again, never dying. The first knight that was overcome by the shadow demons screamed so beautifully! Such an agonizing death scream. "That's right, darlings, eat until you're full," she murmured. This was going to be such a good day!

* * *

Kei squinted when the containment field dropped. Blaise was on his knees next to Shin, who wasn't moving. Shin...no! His attention was drawn back when he heard the most horrible scream of his life. Obosan...It was like he'd been shredded to pieces by a shadow! All that remained were pieces of cloth and a blood spatter. He looked all around them and saw more shadows crawling over the rocks, vaguely having a human form. When they touched a knight, the knight died in the same horrifying manner as Obosan. What were these things? Where did they come from?

Shimura, the Queen of Nightmares was laughing again, spinning around and around like she was dancing. How...repulsive! The fury was building inside him, and he quickly channeled it into fueling his leafe. They were shadows, only shadows. And shadows didn't do well with one thing. He took a shaky breath and let it out. "Like hell I'm going to let Goh be the only hero," he muttered. This was the scariest damn thing he had every done! He let the leafe build and build inside him until it was almost too painful to hold.

"Kei? KEI! NOO!" Sete's scream was only background noise to his concentration. He gave everything he had to this one act and released all the leafe he could into the air, making the blackened sky explode in a wash of brilliant sunlight. The shadows began to melt away. He could see them in the growing light. More...just a little more. This was such agony! How the hell long was it going to last? Damn it, Goh had made this look so easy!

Kei gasped when a warmth touched him. He opened his eyes, unaware of when he'd closed them. Sete was next to him, her eyes flickering brightly in the light. She was keeping him alive, using her own leafe to fuel him. "You stupid jackass! I told you not to do that," she practically snarled.

"Like I'd ever listen to a heartless hag," he muttered back. With Sete keeping his vitals steady, he could throw more leafe into his task. The knights were pressing the attack, killing off the last few Dark Knights, now unhampered by shadows eating them. And the Bitch of Nightmares was once again silent. Oh, good, and she wasn't dancing around either. In fact...

"Where's Shimura?" he asked.

Sete looked around. "I don't see her. Damn it all! She escaped!"

No matter. Her army was dead. She had nothing to fight with anymore. "Are they all dead yet?"

"A couple stragglers, that's it," she answered.

Kei nodded. "Send Feryn and Mannen to look for Hayate and Himeno."

"Are you okay now?"

He gave her a derisive glance. "Woman, do I look like I'm dying now?"

"Arrogant bastard," she muttered, pulling her hand from his back in a sudden movement that left him very cold inside. And very tired. And very, VERY sore! He heard her shouting orders left and right and he smiled. She would have made a great captain. Not that he would have taken orders from HER or anything. He stopped flooding the area with light and dropped to his hands and knees, completely exhausted. He hoped Hayate got to Himeno in time. He'd be right pissed if he went through all this trouble of keeping back an army of shadow freaks and Hayate screwed up the rescue part! Right pissed? Now he sounded like Blaise. God, he hoped he was dying! That was the only excuse for thinking like Blaise, ever.

* * *

Get up, get up, get up...Himeno stared at Hayate's lifeless body, willing him to move.

Jikan's laughter in her head made her want to puke._ Look at all that blood! It's a beautiful sight, really. I didn't think it would be THIS fulfilling..._He laughed again.

HImeno could barely keep herself breathing. Hayate...She'd just...she just...No. NO! "Please, you got what you wanted! Let me go!"

_Umm...no! I'm having way too much fun with this! Having the Pretear Himeno at my mercy, unable to fight back against what I want? Simply delicious! Let's just stay here longer and watch Hayate bleed to death, shall we? Your utter despair is so...intoxicating! Just think, he's lying there, dying, because you were too weak to stop it from happening._

She...was weak. She hadn't stopped it. Hayate was dying and it was her fault. All her fault. He'd been there for her since this started. Always there for her. The one time she had to save him and she couldn't...she couldn't.

_Yes...give in to that feeling. Let me feel it. It's just such a heady sensation. And what's this? Hayate is still twitching! How delightful! Finish him._

She felt him surge inside her mind, forcing her body to move forward, hands reaching for Hayate's neck. Fingers closing around his throat and beginning to squeeze. "Nonononono! Hayate, please, fight back! PLEASE! HAYATE, STOP ME!"

Hayate's eyes remained closed, a trickle of blood coming from his lips and staining his cheek. Himeno screamed and screamed and screamed until her throat hurt. She could feel his pulse growing weaker against her hand. A slow beat...getting softer. She sobbed out loud when her hands tightened a little more.

No...she couldn't let this happen. Not Hayate! I will not do this, she thought. I WILL not! She had to stop it or she would kill him. Hayate, the one she loved. He fought for her, was dying here in her arms for her. "This isn't fair! It isn't right! I just want to keep him safe!"

It was like those words acted as a trigger and she felt the warmth flood her for a third time, the light spreading from her body...

_What...What are you doing? Stop! STOP IT!_ Jikan continued to scream in her head, but it began to fade out as Hayate's heart became stronger. His chest lifted suddenly, taking a deep breath. His eyes...they opened a little and looked to her. He mouthed something, too weak to say it, but she knew. She knew what he was saying. The white light was softly illuminating the cavern, filling her up and spilling out...

"The White Pretear."

Jikan's screams were leaving her, no longer shaking her mind. She forced him out, unpreting with him so fast she almost dropped to her knees. He was still screaming, clutching his face in agony, blood flowing between his fingers. "Wh...What have you DONE to me?" He screamed, pushing himself away from her awkwardly. He was staring at her in utter terror. She would deal with him later.

Himeno ignored him. She had to save Hayate. He'd said he would always be there for her. The same was true for her. It was like she just understood how to do it. She knelt by his side and, trusting her instincts, pressed her hands to his chest. He hissed, wincing as the light built around them, filling the wound that had torn through flesh, muscles and bone. She could feel them all reconnecting, healing themselves with the leafe she provided.

Hayate's hand reach for her weakly, touching her cheek. Tears were trickling down his cheeks as he took one shuddering breath after another. "H-Himeno..."

Himeno smiled and sat back, crying. He was alive. Hurt, but alive. She felt the power slipping away. Jikan...she had to...

Jikan was nowhere in sight.

Hayate was sitting up, gasping in pain when his ankle moved. He pulled her in and held her. She was going to faint...she could feel it...The last thing she heard was him whisper her name.


	11. In The End, Did It Really Matter?

* * *

Author's Note: This the last chapter for this story. It's long, though because...IT'S SETTING UP FOR A THIRD ONE! Yep, that's right, my writing muse Bob decided this would make an excellent trilogy. Okay, real quickly, THANK YOU EVERYONE! Thank you VERY much! I love writing these stories and it makes me very happy that you all enjoy reading them! HURRAY FOR NICE READERS! Anyway, I really need to give a special thanks to my girl Rina. She's been very nice about "homework assignments" (such as coming up with cute critters and evil people's names) AND for dragging Bob out of the darkness of my Saikyuki fics and plopping him down in happy (sort of) Leafenia. Thanks, darling, for that! Be happy she did or this story could have gone VERY dark...

A quick blurb about the third story. It's going to be called Sweet Dreams. Shimura tha Queen of Nightmares gets REALLY nasty! As in, Freddy Krueger would bow down and worship her nasty. It's going to involve her family a lot more. AND...well, I guess I can't say too much or you won't bother reading! That's all, enjoy the end of Child of Darkness!

* * *

CHAPTER 11: In The End, Did It Really Matter?

Himeno groaned, wincing in pain. Her head was just killing her! It felt like someone had decided to back a train right up over her head and leave it there. Someone had been nice enough to give her a rather comfy pillow...Except this pillow was petting her hair gently, fingertips brushing against her cheek in the process. Slowly, she opened her eyes and stared up into a sparkling blue sky. So stunning. She felt a bit like she was flying into that gorgeous blue. "Whoa..." Wait, a blue sky in a cave? No, not a blue sky...blue eyes... Hayate...

Hayate smiled. He looked ready to drop dead of exhaustion, but he was alive! Thank God he was alive! Those nightmares...they had been so REAL! As if she would ever fight Hayate...

But then she noticed the dried blood on his face, the dirt on his uniform. More little cuts along his hands. A huge rip in the fabric across his chest that was matted in place with more dried blood. No...It had been real! Himeno tried to sit up, immediately falling back against his chest at the wave of dizziness. His arm moved lower around her waist to keep her still.

"Just lie back for a little longer," he whispered near her ear. His arms were so warm and so safe...and she had almost destroyed him. Almost...but she didn't. She'd fought back. It was her desire to save someone else, not just herself, that had triggered the change into the White Pretear. But it still didn't change the fact that she very nearly killed the man she loved, with her own hands. Himeno stared at those hands now, perfectly clean, not a trace of blood or dirt on them. No sign at all of what she'd almost done.

"Hayate, I never meant-,"

He only hugged her closer, kissing the top of her head. "I know. In the end, you were there for me and that's all that matters. Just rest, okay? I told you I wasn't going anywhere, and I meant that. So, stop worrying, tulip-head."

Himeno snuggled in closer, eyes drooping and managed a little smile for the nickname. Her eyes opened wide though as she searched the cave. Jikan...did she...No, she knew for a fact he was still alive when she passed out. So, he survived. Sighing wearily, she resettled herself against him and whispered, "This isn't over, is it?"

He never answered her. Himeno sighed and closed her eyes. She just wanted out of here. She just wanted to go home...or to the safe house with Hayate. Anywhere but here. Neither of them could move at the moment, both completely drained from the fight. Fine, it wasn't really that bad here. So long as she had him, it was fine with her. She drifted back to sleep again with the sound of his heart in her ears.

"They're here! I found them! Look, I found them!"

Himeno picked her head up and blinked. Not that it did any good. The whole place was dark. All she could see was a pale figure flying down to them. Eyes wide, she shook Hayate awake. What if...what if it was...?

"Hmm?" He yawned and opened his eyes. He followed her pointing and, instead of being alarmed, he said, "It's just Mannen."

Himeno relaxed again when Mannen came to them, followed by Feryn. The Knight of Storms knealt beside them, checking pulses and pretending he knew what he was doing. "Mannen, go and get some help. I do not think our Pretear and _capitaine_ are all that well." Yeah, no fake, Himeno thought sarcastically.

"Okay! I'll be quick!" Mannen disappeared into the gloom once again.

"Can either of you stand?" Feryn asked. He looked almost worried.

Himeno pushed herself away from Hayate, gripping the rock wall for support. Hayate managed as well with a little help from Feryn. He wasn't putting much pressure on his left leg though and was hopping awkwardly to try and keep his balance..

"_Bien!_ You cannot be too hurt then."

"When did you become a doctor?" Himeno mumbled. Feryn heard her anyway and chuckled.

"_Oui_, you are not hurt badly at all if you are making jokes!"

He had know idea how badly she was hurt. The feeling of not being in control of her body...it was the most disgusting feeling in the world! And what she'd almost done... She hugged herself. No, she wasn't okay. Jikan had done that so easily, like forcing someone to pret was the same as licking an envelope. It made her think of the way other Pretears were treated and was once again thankful she ended up with this team, these knights. All she wanted right now was her own bed, in her house with her dad and her mom and her sisters. She missed them so much right now! "Can I go home?" she asked softly.

"That's exactly where I'm taking you," Hayate answered.

She missed Feryn and Hayate sharing a quick glance. Feryn sighed, clearly not liking what he saw on Hayate's face, but not arguing. "I can carry Himeno," he said. "Hayate, you can fly yourself out. It would be better for all of us not to be down here."

Himeno went over to Feryn and took his hand. Her memory flickered back to the last time someone had taken her hand...she had to fight with herself not to pull free. Feryn felt her hesitation and frowned, glancing at Hayate. He didn't ask the question it was obvious he wanted to. He flew her up to the top and let go of her hand immediately. Himeno rubbed her palm behind her back, trying to get the feeling of someone touching her off. Hayate landed a little behind them with a sharp breath of pain, then Feryn was there and helped him walk out of the cavern and into the cold night air.

Once outside, Hayate collapsed onto a rock, wincing in pain. Himeno stood nearby, hugging herself and feeling helpless. She had to do SOMETHING! But what? it wasn't like she knew first aid or anything. She watched as Feryn tried to keep his arm from moving too much. If he screwed it up further...

She didn't have to worry about that, though. A soft golden light was coming toward them, quickly taking on Kei's shape. Once he hit the ground he was hugging her, practically suffocating her against him. "Himeno! Thank God! Are you hurt? Sete, get over here and-,"

"I'm fine, Kei," she interupted, smiling at his concern and pushing back so she could breath. The smile faded when she saw the blood on him and the deep bruise on his jaw. Oh, no..."What happened to you?"

"Oh, just some Dark Knights and shadow demons. Nothing to worry about," he answered flippantly. "We were trying to keep them busy while Hayate rescued you."

Himeno looked over at Hayate and her smile go a little wider. "You came to rescue me?"

"Of course," he bit out sharply, annoyed she had even asked that. "What was I supposed to do, let some moron carry off my girlfriend?"

"Shit, Hayate, it looks like you got your ass handed to you for it as well," Sete exclaimed, looking him over. There was a soft flash of green as she worked her leafe on him, fixing the break in his arm and his sprained ankle in a matter of minutes. "Jikan really did a number on you!"

Hayate didn't answer, and Himeno was glad for that. What had happened...it was horrible! She buried her face in Kei' shoulder and he squeezed her back. She just wanted to go home now! This was a nightmare she never wanted to go through again.

Hayate stood up, testing his leg and arm a little. Satisfied that they worked, he went over to Kei and Himeno. "Thank you Kei," he said before taking Himeno from him. Kei nodded and stepped back, glancing over at Sete as she moved to stand next to him. There was a quick glance and then neither one could meet the other's gaze. Himeno frowned. Had she missed something between them?

"We should leave this place, go back to the palace," Sete said. She kept glancing at the shadows warily, as if they were about to bite her.

No, not the palace. Himeno shivered. She didn't want to go back there! "Hayate..."

His arm tightened around her shoulders. "I'm taking Himeno home."

Kei looked relieved at that announcement. Sete and Feryn seemed bothered. "Good. She should go see her family," Kei said firmly. "I'll just stay here and keep an eye on things." This last seemed directed more at Sete than anyone else.

"That's all bullshit, and you know it," Blaise called. He stepped out of the shadows with Shin, Hajime and Mannen behind him. Hajime and Mannen ran up to Hayate and punched his arm affectionately before trying to duck him messing their hair up. Shin ran to Himeno and hugged her leg, making her grin and ruffle his hair. "You're just wanna stay to make kissy faces with yer girl there!"

Kei's cheeks darkened, whether because he was angry or because he was embarassed it was hard to tell. "Kissy faces? What the hell do you mean by that?"

Mannen and Hajime started snickering. Then, Hajime grabbed Mannen by the shoulders and said in a high, false voice, "Oh, Kei! I couldn't bear it if you died!" He practically dragged Mannen into a 'passionate' embrace.

Mannen, around his laughter, made his voice deeper and said, "And I as well had you died, Sete!" They made a big deal over blowing each other kisses, making ridiculous faces as they did.

Blaise cracked up, laughing so hard he fell to his knees, clutching his sides. "That's-ahahahaha-bloody right-hhhheeeeeaaaaaa-ON!"

Scowling, Kei pushed Blaise over the rest of the way. "It wasn't like that at all," he muttered. Blaise glared at him and got to his feet, rubbing his butt a little and muttering about 'stupid gits' and other things less nice.

Tossing her hair, Sete said haughtily, "Besides, I'm not his girl!"

Blaise stopped laughing. "You're not?" His eyes were ready to fall out of his head.

"Yeah, she's- hey, what?" Kei gaped at her, shocked.

Sete arched a brow, a little smile coming to her lips. "Hey, we never discussed it! So, until we do, I'm a free woman, pal!"

Kei's mouth opened and closed several times but no words came out.

"Look, Mannen, Kei's speachless!" Hajime exclaimed, pointing to the Knight of Light.

"I...well, you...damn you all!" Kei crossed his arms over his chest and looked away angrily. Sete's smile turned a little smug.

"Can you open a gateway, Hayate, or do you wish for me to?" Feryn asked, still a little tight lipped. He seemed very upset they weren't going back to the palace.

"I can," Hayate answered. He suited action to words and opened one into the real world, holding Himeno tightly.

Himeno closed her eyes, ignoring the warmth enveloping her. She had almost killed Hayate. Jikan had gotten away. No matter how hard she tried to be happy, she knew this fight was far from over. Her eyes opened just as they came out the other side and she heard something. Was that...laughter? She could have sworn she heard this beautiful voice laughing, and it had filled her with terror. Could it be...Looking up, she smiled when she saw they were outside the gates to her house, her relief at being home quickly wiping away that awful laugh. Home...

Hayate walked her up to the door and rang the bell. He turned to face her as they waited, rubbing her arms gently. "Himeno, don't let what happened change anything," he said softly.

Blinking, Himeno met his eyes and saw that he was worried. Worried about her. He didn't need to be. She wasn't going to let it effect her negatively. True, she was upset, but she'd bounce back, she always did! Shaking her head, she answered, "It won't. If anything, it'll make me stronger. I won't ever let that happen again! I'm not just some weapon to be used against the ones I love. Jikan may have gotten through this time, but next time he won't."

Hayate let out a relieved sigh. He held her to him, lips against her cheek. "Thank you," he breathed against her skin before kissing her cheek.

"For what?" Even now, after all the horrible things that had happened, he still gave her butterflies and made her heart scream for him.

"For everything. Just...thank you."

Himeno smiled against his chest. Now that she knew what to expect from the enemy, she was ready for them. She had said before she would do anything and everything to protect her family and friends, and she meant that. She pulled him in tighter, letting the feel of him comfort her. This was one battle she knew she wouldn't lose! Drawing back, their eyes met and then he was leaning forward...

The door opened and the maid broke them apart. Himeno held Hayate's arm and pulled him inside. Kaoru and Natsue ran down the stairs, in their pajamas and robes and hugged her. "Why, Himeno, you're back already?" Natsue exclaimed.

"I'm...so...HAPPY!" Kaoru sobbed dramatically.

"Geeze, dad, it's not like I was gone for twenty years or something," she choked out. They were suffocating her! She glanced over at Hayate who was standing near the door. He looked a little uncomfortable, staring at his shoes. Well, she couldn't blame him. This was a family thing. Breaking away from them (more like prying away when it came to her dad), she went up to him, taking his hand and pulling him in. "Is it alright if Hayate stays for the night? It's really late and-,"

Natsue looked suprised for a second. Oh, right, he still had dried blood on him. "It's okay, mom. It's nothing." Nothing any of them should worry about.

She smiled graciously if not entirely warmly and said, "Why, of course he can! Mareko, please get Hayate some food. And Himeno some as well. Please, come in! We really must hear about your trip. But after you shower, of course. Do you have a change of clothes?"

Hayate, a little taken aback by her sudden willingness to have him stay, stammered, "Oh, well...I hadn't really planned..."

"Oh, that's alright! I'm sure we can find you something, and if not, we can buy it! Show Hayate to a guest room in the east wing." The servant addressed bowed low and then waited by the grand staircase for Hayate to follow him up.

Himeno shut the door on the darkness outside before tucking her arm around Hayate's waist. She really hoped that this was over for a good long time.

* * *

Shimura, the Queen of Nightmares, was angry. No, angry wasn't strong enough. She was livid to the point of incoherent speach. She let out a loud, long scream that broke the windows of her castle, shattering them into the night that she loved so much like a thousand tiny spears. Her precious children...dead. Her Dark Knights...defeated. Her whole day...ruined! And all that remained for her was a never ending loathing for the White Pretear. Oh, yes, she knew the White Pretear was still alive. She had seen what had been done to Jikan's face personally. The White Pretear was stronger than she had thought...but no matter. There were other ways for destroying a person. Other, much more painful ways. In fact, even as she thought them over, new ones surfaced and started to amuse her. She wondered if the White Pretear would cry...or scream...or maybe, she would get lucky and witness BOTH!

Smiling to herself, she took her throne, picked up her sword, and cut a small path along her arm, letting the blood slip along the blade and take shape. An image appeared, one of the White Pretear and her precious knight leaving this world. And...just as she had thought, a family. Families always made things so much more fun! She smiled to herself, the smile quickly turning to a gag as she witnessed the happy reunion. Did she honestly think this was over? That she could just go home and pretend nothing had happened?

"Oh, but this isn't over, White Pretear," she whispered, her voice sifting in the air like a lullaby. "Sweet dreams, princess. I'll be waiting for you. I'm not the Queen of Nightmares for nothing" Shimura threw her head back and laughed. Yes, this was far from over!


End file.
